Tokyo Ghoul Conquistare
by President Haise
Summary: In a world where ghouls are protected underneath CCG law, humanity strives by oppressing them. In Tokyo, Kaneki's goal in life is to end the civil bias and strife between humans and ghouls, by becoming the cruelest between the two. After a lost battle, he is taken in by Eto with welcome arms, but soon must help Anteiku escape from Cochlea, after being responsible for their capture.
1. Prolouge: Hell is Where I Dream

_**See the end of the chapter for the author's notes in regard to this AU. Thank you, and please enjoy!**_

* * *

Tears trailing down her cheeks, Hinami felt her legs carrying her against her will as the hooded man behind her grabbed tightly at her handcuffs while making sure that the barrel of the revolver he held in his other hand was pressed uncomfortably against the back of her head as he led her into the black van parked just outside her driveway. In the dead of night, the designated-ghoul neighborhood that she and her family inhabited lacked proper streets lights, so Hinami was left terrified with the dread of isolation hovering over her as she got closer to the open back doors of the black van. "G-Get up there, don't make this harder than it needs to be…!" The man ordered from behind her. Before Hinami could begin to get her foot up on the edge of the bed of the van, the shaking hand of the hooded man before her had accidentally jerk forward while trying to assist her into the van; causing her to fall flat down on her face. Laying chest down against the cold metal floor of the van bed in her pajamas, Hinami let out a soft choking sob as she felt the man's gloved hand pick her by the back of her collar before leading her to the van's metal separator that laid just behind the driver and passengers' seats.

Looking up within the dimly lit van, Hinami managed to use her shoulder to brush away her tears away so she could get a better look at the two silhouettes who sat beside her. Blinking away the remainder of her blurry vision, the horrified child felt a what little comfort she could get when the moment she realized that the two silhouettes who were sitting beside her were her father and mother, who had appeared to be tied and bound as well. While her mother, Ryouko had looked worse for wear, it was her father who appeared to have suffered the most out of the three. Pale skinned and falling into and out of consciousness, Asaki Fueguchi struggled to keep himself awake despite the six punctures in his stomach; indicating to Hinami to her dismay that the gunshots she had heard earlier weren't warning shots as she had hoped they were. Judging by the worried look in her mother's eyes and the fact that the bullet wounds weren't healing, Hinami feared that her father's kakuhou had been damaged; the organ of the ghoul that allowed her kind to create predatory extremities as well as being the organ to heal their bodies when damaged. Behind her, the man raised his revolver at the family with a hidden expression of hatred behind his hood that hid his identity. "J-Just stay there, okay?! I-I'll fucking use this thing again, okay?!" The hooded man screamed as he waved his gun at Asaki, who just stared back at him with a calm and weak expression.

Opening his lips, the father let out a small cough before mustering the energy to speak to the clearly shaken up man. "Why… Why are you doing this?" Asaki pondered with a professional manner to his words as he stared the captor into his obscured eyes. Taking on his stance through a professional outlook that the inner doctor in him was capable of rather than that of a pleading father who should have been begging for his family's life, Asaki sat patiently as he watched the man fumble around for his words.

"You… It's because you, God damnit…!" The captor choked out as he raised his free hand up to wipe away the beads of sweat that were drenching his forehead. "Dr. Fueguchi… You were one of the good ghouls… You had your family registered as legal ghouls, you weren't afraid to help both humans and ghouls with your m-medical expertise… Doctor, you were one of the most respected ghouls in your community… _SO WHY DID YOU HAVE TO FUCK THAT UP!?_" The man screamed out in retaliation as he banged the butt of the revolver against the van, which caused the driver of the van to jerk his foot forward and step on the gas. "Shit… Hold on man, let me close the fucking doors first!" The captor announced back in frustration as he quickly reached one hand out to close both van doors while still maintaining the aim of his revolver at Asaki. "… Doctor, you were beginning to show humans that not all ghouls were bad… So, why the hell did you do it…?

Hearing what the man was saying, Ryouko's chocolate eyes conveyed an expression of utter confusion as she turned her head toward her husband's stoic expression while he maintained his gaze toward the grieving captor. "H-Honey, what… What is he talking about…?"

"I believe he's referring to one of my human patients, young Tiffany I believe her name was…" Asaki spoke coldly while ignoring the ever growing look of anxiety that was clearly creeping up on his wife's face while his daughter simply stared at him with her own look of bafflement. "… She was twelve years old, and had been diagnosed with a rare case of cancer, you see; she didn't have any known relatives on record-"

"_BULLSHIT!_" The captor screamed out as he once again hit the side of the van with an enraged snarl. Resting his hand on the side of the van's interior walls, the hooded man stared down at the floor of the van while trying to catch his breath and compose himself while Ryouko stared wide eyed at him. "She… She was fucking orphan, you monster… Her name was Tiffany… Tiffany Oohasi, and… She… My wife and I spent six months getting her papers ready; getting her room set up for her…!" As he struggled to say his peace to the unnerved ghoul before him, all it took for the captor to finally break down was the mere reminding thought of the young child's face, and the fond memories he and his wife had shared with her during the entire journey towards finally adopting her. No longer able to contain his sorrow, the man began to weep audibly as he raised his hand up to cover his face. "_OH GOD…!_"

Horrified at what was unraveling before her, Ryouko's bewildered stare once again returned to her husband's unflinching face. "Asaki, what the hell is he talking about… What did you do…?" She spoke quietly before being met with a long drawn out moment of silence as her husband continued to ignore her question. "Asaki, don't you dare ignore me…! Answer me!" Ryouko finally snapped as she barked out over the sound of the man's wailing.

Slowly turning his neck around to face his distraught wife, Asaki's glasses gleamed through the low lighting of the interior of the van as he stared at her with an unbreakable expression that forced a gasp to escape from Ryouko's lips."… A ghoul has his needs, and she wasn't going to live longer than six months." Hearing this, the man let out another wail of angst and more importantly, hatred. "It was a mutual agreement. I spared her the agony of what awaited her, and in exchange she gave me permission to do with her body as I sought fit… Unlike the other humans, she understood the true natural order, and was okay with-"

"-_SHUT THE FUCK UP!_" The man screamed even louder than before as he waved the barrel of the revolver at Asaki's face. "Who the _FUCK_ agrees to that with a child?!" The captor screamed in a mixture of despair and rage as he gritted his teeth at the still calm and collective ghoul, all the while Ryouko held onto Hinami's curled up small frame as she felt her heart sink to the bottom of her chest.

"A… Asaki, you… You didn't…" Ryouko stumbled forth as she as slowly shook her head at her husband's seemingly apathetic face. Another cold chill ran down her back and up her chest as the image of the man she loved devouring a human child who had trusted him to care for her made the ghoul queasy. "You… You ate a **child**…? I… I-_!_" Before another word could escape from her mouth, Ryouko suddenly wretched audibly loud before vomiting onto the floor of the van with a feeling of disgust bubbling down in the bottom of her stomach.

Backing away from her mother after she had vomited, Hinami fumbled to maintain her balance with her cuffs still on her small wrists as she stared wide eyed at her father. Unlike his wife and the sobbing captor within the interior walls of the van, Hinami was the only one who Asaki gave a look of empathy to as he felt a wave of shame suddenly wash over his body. "Hinami… I'm sorry it ended up this way; I should have never done what I did…" Asaki said apologetically to his daughter before turning away from her gaze to look up at the captor. "… My family, they aren't responsible for young Tiffany's fate; please, allow them to return home safely."

Shaking his head at the ghoul, the captor let out a mournful chuckle as he stared back at him with a look of satisfaction and sorrow hidden behind the shroud of his hood. "You… You don't get it, do you?" The captor asked with a hint of pity behind his words as he quickly glanced over at the ghoul's wife and daughter. "You broke the rules, Doctor… You see, my group, the Sons of Tokyo, are a very pro-human group that tends to work outside the restrictions of the law in order to keep the natural order of things prevalent in our topsy-turvy world… Ghouls who play nice and follow the law are okay, because they eat the syntenic stuff and not us… But for ghouls like you, who think they're above the consequences and decide that it's okay to indulge themselves with forbidden fruit? Well… My group tends to favor more traditional and biblical punishments, so to speak; just to show others than we don't accept crimes against _OUR_ natural order, so we make sure to that we set examples so that your kind upholds our standards." The captor explained with a small sense of pride in his words while making sure to inform the doomed family the reason behind their awaited fate. "So, please, sit down and just… Make this easy for me, okay…? Maybe the 24th Ward's judge will be more understanding if he knows you were obedient…"

Despite the fact that the man's argument to have them comply with their journey towards their judgement did make sense and even appealed to the doctor within him, the father in him knew that the chances of a group such as the Sons of Tokyo passing mercy on to his family was unfathomable. '_He's an upset human: clearly not capable of making the best decisions right now… My kakuhou is still in critical condition, and I myself am not in any condition to fight… Yet, for Hinami's sake, I must try… If there's a god out there, and you can hear this… Keep my family safe._' Making his peace for his own sake rather than that of his family's, Asaki curled his fingers into fist and flexed his legs as he glared at the man, who stared back at him with an uneasiness hidden behind his hood.

"Don't… Don't do it." The captor said pleadingly as he raised his revolver and aimed down this iron sights at Asaki, who was in the process of slowly rising to his feet. His eyes, a once cold grey stare, became blackened and void like while his pupils became a slightly bioluminescent red; signaling to the man that his kakahou had been activated and he was ready to strike hard. "Don't… Don't make me do it…" The man pled once more, but his words once again fell on deaf ears. Despite the confrontation and tension that was being held between the two men, Ryouko found herself unable to focus on what was going on around her. Silently activating her own kagune, Ryouko tucked Hinami against her chest while making sure to scoot her away from the pool of her bile as she cocooned herself and her daughter within a pale-tan barrier of her own creation. Within a blink of an eye, Asaki had rushed over toward the captor and bit hard into his forearm while shoving his cuffed hands into the man's stomach. Letting out a gurgled scream, adrenaline kicked into the hooded man's bloodstream and granted him enough momentary strength to headbutt the ghoul away before being able to kick him further back; tearing the flesh of his arm off while gutting himself in the process as Asaki held onto the man's intestines as he stumbled back toward Ryouko's kagune.

Six shots, the entire chamber of the revolver was emptied into the ghoul in a matter of a couple seconds. Covering her daughter's ears as Hinami let out a scream, Ryouko was thankful that she couldn't watch as the first bullet flew into Asaki's chest. A red bloody cloud of mist exploded from the back of the ghoul's rib cage as chunks of blood and bone landed on his wife's kagune. As Asaki fell over with a gushing wave of blood dripping down from his lips, the second stray and rushed shot that was fired from the revolver shattered his glasses seconds before causing his left eye to burst into a gooey mess. Hunched over screaming while his eye bleed profusely down his cheek, the third and fourth bullets that were hastily fired from the man's revolver tore through Asaki's neck and caused a sudden spraying burst of blood to erupt on to the already injured man. Before the captor's legs were able to finally give out, through his tunnel vision, the man was able to fire the last shot directly into Asaki's forehead; destroying his skull and sending chunks of skull, blood, and grey matter splattering against Ryouko's kagune and the interior of the van. Left as a mangled body, Asaki's body fell backwards and laid on the floor beside his wife while Hinami's screams filled the van just as the injured man collapsed with his back against the side of the van's interior wall.

Six shots, six rounds, that's all that the man's reliable firearm could hold in its chamber; so needless to say, when the captor heard the booming sound of glass shattering and the tires screeching over the sound of the mourning daughter screaming out for her loved one, confusion overwhelmed him as he had one question on his mind as the front of the van came steering directly into a tree: '_Where did the seventh bullet come from?'_'

* * *

Seconds before the front of the black van became crushed as if though it were made of paper mâché, Ryouko with the power of her motherly instincts, hugged Hinami tighter so that she could use her own body to cushion the impact for her daughter. Flying against the side of the van, Ryouko's kagune-covered body made a dent into the side of the van's interior while the captor let out a muffled wail as Asaki's corpse flew forward into him and slammed the back of captor's head against the black tinted rear windshield; spider webbing the entirety of the reinforced glass panel while staining it with blood as he collapsed in to a jumbled mess. "S-Shit…!" The captor slurred out as the sound of his ears ringing drowned out the sound of another car pulling up beside the road where the van had crashed. Seeing nothing but stars in his eyes, the captor clumsily kicked off the mutilated body of the ghoul off his body before rushing to his revolver that laid near the large pale-tan kagune that shielded Ryouko and Hinami away from the captor. Having been an experienced shooter, the captor didn't need to rely on his eyes that were currently being strained by the concussion he had as he tried to reload his firearm. However, such a feat didn't matter, because the moment the captor tried to place the first round into the chamber, his hand dropped the gun after the weight of such a small firearm became too much for him to bear. Due to disorientation from the massive blood loss he was experiencing, the captor could only stare up at the ceiling with his hands covering his ruptured abdomen as he heard the van's back doors being pried open. With a sudden gust of the cold autumn night's wind brushing over his already pale and numb body, the man didn't wasn't able to put up a fight as he felt two hands grabbing him by the ankles before his body was dragged outside toward the bleak darkness.

Huddled with her daughter, Ryouko felt her heart and mind racing as she stared wide eyed at the top of her daughter's head for comfort. Doing her best to put aside her own mourning, Ryouko held her breath and listened over the sound of Hinami's soft sobbing until she heard a pair of footsteps approaching her slowly. "**Who… Who's there?**" Ryouko choked out from behind the protection of her kagune. "**Please… We don't want any more trouble…**"

Vulnerable and fearful for her daughter's life more so than her own, Ryouko was hoping for comfort in her savior's voice, perhaps that of a kind soul who would be more than willing to help her and her daughter. Unraveling her kagune just enough for her to peek through the cracks of her self-made barrier, standing before her was a young man of average height and an athletic build. Dressed in an expensive looking black formal clothing, the young man wore his designer-brand dress shirt with his collar frayed and his top buttons open as he stared down at her with a stoic and serious expression that gave the ghoul even more anxiety than what she already had. "Good evening, my name is Kaneki Ken; rest assured, I am not here to hurt you." The young man spoke politely yet sternly as he stared down at the startled ghoul before looking down toward the mangled corpse at his feet. "This man... Was he important to you?"

Only being able to take a quick glance at her nearly headless husband, a small squeak escaped from Ryouko's throat before she looked back up at Kaneki with a look of devastation on her face. "**That's… That's my husband…!**" Ryouko choked out before burying her face into the palms of her hands. Although Kaneki was visibly unfazed by this revelation, he did the best with what he had and decided to use his large oversized fur-collar long coat to cover the mutilated corpse for Ryouko's sake. Seeing this from the corners of her vision, Ryouko continued to hold Hinami's head against her chest before slowly allowing her kagune to vaporize into the cold air while she lowered her hands from her face to watch Kaneki kneeling beside the covered body.

Taking out a black rosary necklace with a diamond crucifix at the end of it, Kaneki brought up to his lips and closed his eyes as he muttered a quiet prayer over Asaki's body. Tapping his head, shoulders, and chest in the motion of a cross, Kaneki whispered a quiet 'Amen' before standing up to his feet. "Ma'am, I am sorry for your loss; truly, I am… But in the meantime, you should not return to your home if you can help it; those pigs who fight under the banner of 'Sons of Tokyo', will be returning to that address… Unless it is worth dying for, leave your worldly possessions behind you." Kaneki explained with a clear underlying tone of caution in his voice. "Tell me… Do you have anywhere else to go? If it is not too far, I can take you there."

Hearing Kaneki's offer was the only thing that had made Ryouko feel a slightly happier in her current state. With a clear goal in mind, Ryouko would be able to secure herself and Hinami's safety for the time being within the protection of her friends. "**I… I do. It's in the 20th Ward, umm… Anteiku, it's a cafe; they'll be able to help me…**" Although she found herself unable to feel anything else other than fear of future and confusion from what may come, the gesture of kindness shown to her had brought with it a small smile to her face, despite the overwhelming tragedy that she had incurred moments ago. "**Kaneki, was it…? T-Thank you Kaneki, I…**" Although she had so much more to say to him, she found herself trailing off after what she had said what she wanted to say the most. Ryouko found herself falling into a silence that was met with Kaneki extending his hand out for her to hold. Although her husband's body was covered, Ryouko made sure to advert Hinami's eyes away from the scene as Kaneki led her by hand and made sure she and Hinami were safely out of the van before quickly closing the doors behind them. Stepping across the dusty area near the tree where they had crashed just off the shoulder of the freeway they were on, Ryouko held onto Kaneki's hand while making sure to keep Hinami close to her as he led them toward his black sports sedan. Just as Kaneki opened the backdoor for them and led her into the comfortable leather interior in the heated backseat, Ryouko caught a small glance of a blond young man equal to Kaneki's stature who appeared to be hovering over the captor's laid out body on the side of the road. Wanting to forget that night entirely, Ryouko chose to simply cover Hinami's eyes as she reluctantly let go of Kaneki's comforting grasp to make room for Hinami to set beside her.

With the two ghouls buckled up and huddled in each other's grasp, Kaneki closed the door behind the mother and daughter before squatting down near the closed window where Ryouko sat to give the older woman a comforting smile. "I want you to stay here; do not leave this car unless you are in immediate danger and it is safer to do so rather than stay. I will return shortly…" Kaneki instructed kindly, and although the tear-streaked cheeks of the ghoul were an obvious sign that she was in not in a talkative mood at all, Kaneki was able to at least get a nod from her before deciding to make his way to the back of his car. Popping open the trunk, the young man quickly unbuttoned his shirt and undid his belt before changing into the sleek black battle suit that covered his entire body from the jaw down. With his used clothes bundled up and tossed over next to the duffle bags of weapons and ammo he kept stored in his trunk, Kaneki reached into the side of the compartment where the tire jack was stored to retrieve his disguise: a half mask with a horizontal-zipper in the middle in the shape of a gums and teeth while a single black and square-shaped special-vison device in the shape of an eyepatch was strapped to it. Covering his right eye with the electronic eyepatch, Kaneki zipped up the half-mask to cover the lower half of his face before opening a duffle bag to retrieve the armor-padding for his battle suit along with the belts that were needed to carry his desired weapons and ammunition. Taking out his phone and turning on the selfie-camera, Kaneki adjusted what he needed before feeling satisfied with his full-armed battle suit. "**Bellissimo…!**"

* * *

On the side of the road, Hide knelt beside the fatally-injured man while pulling down the yellow-stitched brown scarf he usually used to conceal his identify while also making sure to take off his brown leather-brimmed sunhat and his glowing yellow electronic-sunglasses; he knew the man was going to die very soon, so the least he could do to earn his trust was give the man a face to look at during his final moments. Kept warm underneath his own brown reinforced battle suit that had a black cape draped over his back and brown-leather cloth around his armor with straw stitched into the ends of it, Hide felt sympathy for the man who felt cold as clay underneath his touch as he tapped his fingers against the side of his cheek to wake him up. "Hey… I need to ask you a question before you uh… You know." Hide muttered in a low voice as his brown eyes gazed up and into the dying man's hidden stare.

Letting out a soft fit of laughter that soon ended with a sudden gush of blood foaming at his mouth, the captor shook his head in disbelief at the young man who he found to be so naive. "Why… Why would I tell you anything…? You're in no position to have power of me…! I'll be dead before… Before you get the chance to torture me…" The man argued with a slight hint of satisfaction in his otherwise quiet and raspy voice as he grinned weakly at Hide's calm and collective face. "The Sons of Tokyo… Will make things right…"

"I understand that your group, the Sons of Tokyo, have something planned for tonight too, huh? From what I can guess, you were on your way to deliver those ghouls to an isolated place, for a reason that doesn't interest me to know." Hide said abruptly, which made the captor's grin fade into a weaken frown the moment he watched Hide's lips curl into a comforting smile. "I'm only interested in saving the captured people who unless you can help, will die tonight." The young blond man explained as he waited for the captor to reply.

"No… Those ghouls, and ghoul sympathizers… They're evil, th-they need to die…"

"Tell me, that little ghoul girl you had stowed away in the van… Do you think she deserves to die as well?" Hide argued, which made the man beneath him let out a small gasp before falling into silence. "You were going to deliver her to be hurt, weren't you? Is that you really want? For children to be hurt?"

That word, 'children', made the captor think back to Tiffany, and the bright smile she had on her face when he and his wife first met her at the orphanage. Her silky black hair always seemed to gleam the most in underneath the brilliance of the sunlight, and the absolution in her eyes portrayed a warmth that always ignited the man to continue on with the tedious paperwork and the expenses that came with the process of her adoption. He fell in love with her, and even though he was never able to legally claim her as his own, he knew that she was his daughter, and if God were kinder, he'd give her the world at the drop of a hat. What would Tiffany think of him now?

"… They're going to meet up at the scrap yard over in the 24th Ward tonight at eleven…. They'll be armed with guns and will be patrolling around the gate entrance mostly… If you can sneak through the tunnel system underneath… I'm sure you'll be able to get the drop on them if you go can lockpick your way there…" The man spoke weakly, and after seeing the sudden expression of surprise on the younger man's face, the proud father decided to go out with a confident smirk on his lips as he his hearing and vision began to fade away. "…I… I have no reason to lie, nor… Nor do I have regrets… Tiffany…" With the last word being the name of his would-be daughter, the man felt a comforting embrace of peace shroud over his body as drew his final breath.

Remaining knelt beside the body of the deceased man, Hide simply stared down at the visible smile on the man's face. "… Shit." Hide muttered to himself as a sigh broke out through his lips. After taking a few moments to get his thoughts in order, Hide secured his mask, hat, and sunglasses back to on his face and head before standing back up to make his way toward Kaneki, who stood near beside his sports sedan with his arms crossed over his chest as he patiently waited for the young blond man to make his way to him. "**They're going to meet up at the 24th** **Ward's scrap yard tonight at eleven. He suggested that we go through the access tunnel to avoid being surrounded.**" Hide informed briefly as he stood across from his best friend. "**He… He actually wasn't that bad of a person; I could tell.**"

Not caring for what method Hide had used to extract the vital information, what Kaneki had heard was good enough for him and he made sure to pat Hide on the shoulder to signal him that he did a good job. "**Excellent, but before we go there, we're going to need to drop off those two at some place called Anteiku; ever heard of it?**" Kaneki asked with a curious tone.

"**Anteiku, huh? Um… Ye-Yeah, it's some café in the 20th** **Ward; it's more so for ghouls than humans though, so uh, I can't say I've been there myself.**" Hide replied with a thoughtful look that was hidden behind his disguise as he looked over at the car to see the concerned look of Ryouko staring back at him through pleading eyes. "… **They saw your face, didn't they?**" Hide asked with a sudden sense of dread washing over him as he turned his attention back to Kaneki's grinning mask. "**You're not going to, you know…**" Hide muttered as he put his hand into the shape of a gun before bringing his fingertips up to the side of his head before mimicking the gun going off against his tempol.

"**Don't be ridiculous; if I had the suspicion that they were going to expose my unofficial identity, one that's not even real, out to the world, then I would have made sure they never left that van.**" Kaneki shot back with a low tone to his voice as his grey exposed eye glare slightly at Hide before quickly relaxing. "… **Hide, as my friend, I must tell you this: I do not plan on leaving a single one of those bastards alive. I will also be the one to pass judgement onto those the Sons of Tokyo have taken the liberty to round up; I am certain not all of them are innocent themselves… Tell me, does this bother you? Will you still stand by my side, even when the world deems me as evil?**" The question Kaneki had just asked was one that Hide had heard plenty of times before, and it never got easier to answer.

Taking his hat off for a moment, Hide took in a deep breath as he ran his fingers through his thick locks of hair before sighing. "… **Well shit, Kaneki, you really know how to kill an already fucked-up mood, don't you?**" Hide asked jokingly as gave a sarcastic and sorrowful chuckle while shaking his head in disbelief. "… **I'll be there to help you, of course dude, you're like my brother, man…** **Just promise that when we get there, our priority is to save the people who they've captured first, okay?**"

Although Kaneki found himself pinching his chin with his index finger and thumb as he nodded during Hide's terms and agreements, the promise his best friend was wanting him to make was one that conflicted with his own agenda; and Hide knew this. Nonetheless, after a few seconds of consideration, Kaneki finally let out a soft sigh before extending his hand toward Hide. "**... Very well, Hide; I promise you this: We shall make the captives our first and utmost priority. After that, I shall have you lead them through the tunnel system and toward freedom; I will stay behind to do what must be done.**"

Staring down at the extended hand before him, Hide found himself at an impasse with the man who he considered his best friend. Despite his efforts, Hide figured that this time wasn't going to be any different than the last instances of him trying to get Kaneki to take a pacifist approach; it always ended up Kaneki going by himself to do what he wanted anyway which usually ended with him getting hurt. The counter offer Kaneki was offering to him was far from perfect, but at least felt somewhat relieved with the knowledge that his best friend had at least respected his request. However, that didn't matter to Hide, because he knew just as much as Kaneki did that he wouldn't leave his best friend alone to take on whatever dangers could be facing them. Grabbing onto Kaneki's gloved hand, Hide gripped his hand firmly as he shook on the agreement. "**... Deal.**" Hide replied back in a low voice while Kaneki let out a small throaty laugh.

"**Excellent… Come now Hide, there's work to be done.**" Kaneki mused with a satisfied hum as he felt heart pumping in excitement and anticipation for what was to come. It wasn't the act of killing that excited him; to Kaneki, the real excitement came from the idea that he was one step closer toward accomplishing his dream of crushing his enemies and taking control of the immoral and corrupt metropolis that was Tokyo.

Or at least, that's what he always told himself.

* * *

_**That is the end of Chapter One: hell is where i dreamt. So here some key differences from Tokyo Ghoul and Conquistare: **_

_**1) Ghouls and Humans exist in a society where humans are first class citizens who have far better lives that are built off the back of ghouls, who are seen as second class citizens who are protected under the law, just as long as they're registered.**_

_**2) Due to the social class differences and abundant poverty within the ghoul community, gangs are a huge issue that prey on humans. To combat this, CCG regulates and protects its citizens and combats gang violence while serving as the primary authoritarian figure for Tokyo. In the grey areas where CCG can't operate under the law, Sons of Tokyo is an extremist human-supremacist group that terrorizes the ghoul community and apply their own ideology to maintain their interpretation of the natural order. **_

_**3) Characters and their backstories may be vastly different or similar to the canon. For example, Kaneki is a lot more aggressive and confident in the beginning, and also borderline homicidal. **_

_**4) The reason why Kaneki spoke in Italian in this chapter will be explained later. **_

_**5) Kaneki is human.**_

_**That about does it for now, please feel free to leave a review or send me a message if you have any recommendations or suggestions. Thank you, and have a good day.**_


	2. Smoldering Metal and Tension

_**Thank you for reading thus far! Please, enjoy this chapter and read the author's notes at the end.**_

* * *

The tires underneath Kaneki's car came to a screeching halt and caused everyone who was seated inside the car to lean forward suddenly before being jerked back into their seats. As Kaneki shifted his transmission into park while Ryouko and Hinami wiped the tiredness from their bloodshot eyes away after having been rudely awoken, Hide let out a low groan of pain as he held onto the back of his neck. "**We have arrived.**" Kaneki announced in a calm voice while putting his eyepatch back over his right eye.

Gritting his teeth in annoyance, Hide jerked his head over to the driver's side with a slightly pissed off look hidden behind his disguise. "**Seriously?! Where the hell did you even learn to drive like that, man?!**" Hide asked bluntly as he let out another whine. "**God damn… You'd think I'd get the hint by now, and just drive myself around… Seriously, you're going to get me killed one of these days… How about you two, are you all alright back there?**" Hide asked with a concerned tone to his voice as he poked his head over his shoulder to stare back at the two ghouls.

Holding Hinami close to her, Ryouko brushed her straight cut bangs that were matted on her forehead to the side before looking up at Hide with an exhausted look in her tired brown eyes. "... We'll have to be for now." The ghoul replied with a sorrowful tone in her words as she reached down to unbuckle herself and her daughter. "Thank you… For everything; I hope someday I can repay you for what you two have done for us."

Reaching up to shift the rear-view mirror so that he could he look into Ryouko's eyes, Kaneki's cold and calculating gaze focused on her for a matter of a few minutes before deciding to speak. "**… Do not concern yourself with such a gesture; if you want to repay us, then you will not speak a word of what you saw tonight regarding either of our identities to anyone, ****_capisci_****?**" Kaneki asked sternly with a hint of intimidation behind his words as he quietly waited for a response from the startled ghoul.

"I… I understand, thank you…" Ryouko quietly responded as she held Hinami even closer to her in a warm embrace. "I'll tell them we got into a crash, and… And that Hinami and I came here on foot." Ryouko explained as she was hoping her proposed alibi would be good enough.

After a few seconds of deciding whether or not to actually let the ghouls walk out of his car with the knowledge of his face, Kaneki quietly let out a sigh before nodding over to them. "**Thank you for your cooperation... You may leave now.**"

* * *

Eyes closed and the back of his head pressed against the cushioned headrest of his seat in the back of the armored van, Amon Koutarou's mind cleared itself of all other distractions that weren't at all related to what awaited him in the 24th Ward. Armed in the standard riot armor that all CCG investigators and patrolmen were given for when conflict was expected, Amon carefully maneuvered his hand underneath the collar of his armor to reach beneath his black turtleneck sweater to pull out his gold and diamond crucifix necklace before pressing it against his lips to whisper a silent prayer. Within the back of the armored van, one Amon's squad members had noticed that somewhat was on his leader's mind and couldn't help but raise a thin eyebrow at the muscular young man. Taking off his headphones to put them into one of the pouches on his belt, Urie Kuki's diamond-shaped pupils focused on Amon while his fingers tapped gently against the sides of his armored helmet that rested on his lap. "Special Class Koutarou, are you sure it's wise for us to be on standby? If anything, shouldn't we be the ones to do the hostage negation rather than the Mado family?" Urie asked respectfully as he did his best to voice out his opinion in a professional manner.

With the golden cross of his necklace still pressed against his lips, Amon opened his grey eyes in the midst of his meditation with a contemplating look on his face before deciding to part his lips to speak. "Urie, you know that's not up for us to decide… Orders are orders." Amon explained with a somewhat flat tone to his words as he watched the corners of Urie's lips curl into a frown. "Don't get me wrong Urie, I completely agree with you. Considering that you and your squad are quinx, you'd imagine that they would have you with Marude to guard him while he handles the situation… However, you also have to realize that the Sons of Tokyo aren't known for their positive disposition towards ghouls; so while although you are CCG and technically humans to an extent, if they see you with your kagune out, you better bet your ass that you'll be their target." Amon explained with a hint of caution behind his words. Putting his golden and diamond studded cross back on around his neck into the safety of his turtleneck, Amon take hold of his advanced recon helmet with a built-in overlay on its black visor before securing it to his head. Just like the helmets the rest of his squad had, the armored headpiece completely hid Amon's face, and all those who looked up his visor would only see a pitch-black surface rather than the transparent monitor that the user saw. "**While we have time, I want to go over what will happen incase we're met with resistance, from either Sons of Tokyo or any other faction… Urie, you'll be with me in the front. Shirazu, you and Saiko cover the sides while Mutuski, I want you to cover our rear; and remember, our guns are equipped with Q-rounds, so they'll work against ghouls as well… Any questions?**" Amongst the rest of her group, Mutuski was the first to raise her hand; albeit there was an apparent abundance of hesitation and nervousness in her gesture, but nonetheless she was trying; which pleased the squad leader very much. "**Yes, Mutuski?**" Amon asked with a smile on his face that was hidden by both the black visor of his helmet and the mouthpiece inside that provided him with clean air; giving the young squad leader a somewhat robotic voice thanks to the microphone built into the mouthpiece inside.

"Um… S-Say if we do have to go in, w-what's our priority? A-Are we rescuing the captives or are we focusing on clearing out the area…?" Mutuski asked with her usual shaky and unconfident voice as she anxiously waited for a response from her squad leader. "… I'm sorry if the question sounds stupid, but… I just want to be sure is all…"

"**It's not a stupid question by any means, Mutuski; besides, I'm sure the rest of your squad was probably wondering the same thing… So, thank you for being brave enough to raise your hand first.**" Amon said applaudingly as he gave the nervous young woman a thumbs up. "**_Molto bene_**** indeed… As far as your question goes Mutuski, just try to remember that your job is to secure the area by any means necessary; so, let me worry about the captives if and when that situation does come to fruition.**" Amon said reassuringly, which seemed to have worked to a certain extent in easing Mutsuki's anxiety considering that she now appeared to seem less worried with the knowledge that she wouldn't have to concern herself with such an abstract goal in mind. "**Look at it like this: try to imagine us like a family, so naturally your first instinct is to protect your family if they're in danger, no? I'm not just talking to Mutuski; I want all of you to keep that mind if and when we need to have boots on the ground, ****_capisci_****?"**

Nodding at her leader's instructions, Mutuski let out a sigh as she did her best to collect herself. "Just defend our group until we're safe then… Okay, I think I got it." Mutuski muttered under her breath just before lifting her chin up to make eye contact with her squad leader. "Thank you, Amon… I feel a little better now."

Not being one for wanting to actually do anything that requires effort, Saiko was more than hoping that everything would go smoothly for Marude and the CCG as a whole; that way, all she would have to do is stay in the van and play her videogames for the rest of the mission. However, not also wanting to see Mutuski nervous in any shape or form, the young blue-haired woman hesitatingly stuffed her handheld console into one of the pouches on her belt before facing her friend with a motivated look in her blue and red eyes. "Don't worry Mutuski, I'm sure nothing bad will happen; you know that the Sons of Tokyo are practically on our side anyways, I don't think they're going to be putting up a fight against us…" Saiko reasoned as she did her best to give off a look of genuine carelessness to the still anxious young woman, despite the fact that she herself had a sinking feeling in the bottom of her stomach. "Besides… I play Counter Strike competitively; this probably isn't much different, right~…?" Saiko asked in a somewhat joking manner that was far too clouded by her own uncertainty as she let out a nervous laugh at the end of her sentence. Although she earned a small chuckle from Mutuski, it didn't take away the shared anxiety that the Quinx Squad felt within the back of the armored chariot that carried them to entrance of the scrap yard.

Noticing that even the usually reserved and confident purple-haired quinx was displaying an uneasy expression on his usually stoic face, the tallest and lankiest of the group decided to speak up. "Hey, what are we all scared of…?! We have a freaking special class investigator with us; and it just so happens to be Amon _motherfucking_ Koutarou for crying out loud! This guy's a legend!" Shirazu shouted out loud in a very overly optimistic tone of voice. Although the van was currently in movement, the tall and lanky blond quinx unbuckled himself from the seat's harness before standing up to point both hands towards the squad leader. "Who gives a shit if this is our first actual mission?! We have someone who doesn't even need a quinque to kill ghouls! Do you know how many people would _kill_ just to have Amon on their side?! Shit, I bet there won't even be a fight the moment they all see our squad leader in action! Besides, we're no push overs ourselves! We're quinx, we already have an upper hand compared to whatever they have planned for us! So… Come on, let's show Amon that we're worth keeping for Christ's sake!" Throwing his hands down in the midst of his heated moment, Shirazu found himself being met with smiles from around the interior of the van, which put away any silent doubts he had himself.

Being the first to clap for his subordinate's success in raising moral in the van, Amon smiled confidently from behind his helmet's black visor with a look of approval that he had wished was visible to Shirazu. "**_Buono come il pane,_**** Shirazu! A very inspiration speech; well done… Now sit your ass back down and buckle in before you get hurt...!**" After saying this, Amon watched with an amused look behind his visor as a sudden blush came over the now bashful young quinx. Immediately taking his seat while his squad members couldn't help but let out chuckles of their own, Shirazu let out a throaty laugh himself as he buckled himself in. After making sure Shirazu was nice and buckled in, Amon cleared his own throat before deciding to give his own words of inspiration to his underlings. "**Friends, tonight what waits for us is something that only God knows. Perhaps nothing will happen and there won't be a need for us here… Or maybe tonight will require a call of arms… Either way, please put your trust in me, for I have put my trust in you all. Tonight, whatever happens, we will be ready to answer the call; and victory ****_WILL_**** be ours; that, I can promise you.**" Although his speech wasn't as long or as vulgar as the previous speaker's, the confidence behind Amon's words gave off the impression to his quinx squad that he somewhat already knew the outcome of what was to come. Hearing and knowing this, the fire resonating within them became even brighter as a sudden rush of inspiration coursed through their veins. "**Now relax my friends, for we've already won the battle that has yet to come.**"

* * *

About a kilometer away from the perimeter from the scrap yard's fence that surrounded the property, Kaneki's black sports sedan had its lights turned off as he parked it behind a large brick building that hid them from the two hooded men who were standing guard beside a small fenced area with a small building that led into the service tunnels underneath the industrial complex of the 24th Ward. With a hand on his silenced pistol, Kaneki wasted no time in opening his car door before standing out with his firearm drawn. Scanning the horizon for anyone who might have spotted them, Kaneki quickly gestured for Hide quickly step out of the car. Without speaking a word, the somewhat reluctant blond young man let out a small anxious sigh before making his way to the trunk to pop it open. With his pistol still at the ready, Kaneki quickly made his way beside his best friend and waited for Hide to arm himself with an scoped semi-auto rifle, a submachine gun that had a silencer at the end of the barrel, and small cylinder handle that was actually a quinque in the shape of a golden tomahawk. After getting the silent okay from Hide, Kaneki quickly holstered his pistol before rushing over to the duffle bag to retrieve his assault rifle, a few grenades, and his quinque that appeared to resemble a black short sword that he quickly put away into the sheath on the outside of his hip. After the two filled the pouches on their belt and armored chest with the ammo they needed, Kaneki unholstered his silenced pistol before signaling for Hide to follow him toward the entrance of the small brick building that they had parked their car near. It didn't take long for Kaneki to pick the lock of the sturdy door, and after making sure there wasn't a flashing red light inside that would have signaled to them that there was alarm, the young man quickly reached up to his eyepatch to activate his night vision. Following behind Kaneki with his own night vision activated on his own advanced sunglasses, Hide raised his submachine gun up and kept behind his best friend as they quickly swept the interior rooms of the building to make sure that there wasn't a soul within its foundations other than themselves.

Making their way to the rooftop access, Kaneki and Hide took to the ground and chose to slowly crawl underneath the cover of the night sky as they made their way over to the edge of the rooftop where they were able to see their well illuminated targets from a somewhat safe distance. "**… Aim for their heads; we can't afford for them to alert anyone.**" Kaneki whispered in a quiet and hushed voice as he raised his pistol up in conjunction to Hide while the two aimed down their iron sights. While their weapons weren't ideal for medium to long range, the two best friends were easily able to dispatch the guards in front of the service tunnel entrance with only a single round fired from their weapons. Smirking from ear to ear underneath his coincidentally always-smiling disguise, Kaneki hummed in satisfaction to himself as he watched the bodies of the men drop to the ground like a sack of potatoes. "**_Sorprendente…!_**** Excellent shot Hide…! Come, let us make haste before anyone notices…!**" Nearly sprinting down the flight of stairs and through the brick building's doors, Kaneki and Hide were silent as owls as they made their way across the street toward the fenced off entrance leading underground.

Standing nearby with his submachine gun at the ready, Hide did his best to ignore the splattered grey matter and bone that were scattered across the blood-soaked pavement while Kaneki stuck his hands into the pockets of the corpses to search for a key to get into the access tunnels. "**Ugh… Come on man, hurry up…! I hate dead bodies…**"

"**Do not be such a wimp… Besides, what are they going to do? Get up and go to the CCG to tell on you…?**" Kaneki mused humorously as he quietly chuckled to himself. While the surrounding gore and death was proving too much for Hide to find his dark humor enjoyable, Kaneki couldn't help but stifle a laughter as he pulled out a cooper key from the pocket belonging to guard that Hide had shot. "**It was a joke Hide, lighten up, would you…?**" Kaneki snickered out quietly in a low voice before taking in a deep breath to compose himself as he unlocked and propped open the service door. "**Come Hide, we have only begun our crusade…!**"

While Hide couldn't help but appreciate the enthusiasm that was being displayed from his questionably homicidal best friend, the young blond man found himself dreading what was waiting for them in the access tunnel. While Kaneki gave him an excited look from behind his mask, all Hide could think about was how much he just wanted to go home. "**… Let's get this over with.**" Hide said with a quiet sigh before aiming down the sights of his submachine gun as Kaneki entered through the doorway with his pistol in hand.

"**_Affronta il giudizio di Dio, peccatori…_**" Kaneki whispered out with an expression of contempt hidden behind his mask as a clenched his jaw, as all he could see within the black abyss that stared back at him from within the service tunnel were the images those who he blamed for being responsible for the world's twistedness. With the use of their advanced optics, Kaneki and Hide quietly made the journey down the bleak darkness of the access tunnel that led into the heart of the scrap yard.

* * *

With the front gated entrance of the scrap yard surrounded in a flurry of red and blue flashing lights from the patrol cars outside perimeter of the area, the helicopters hovering above shun their bright search lights down and illuminated the entirety of the scrap yard in a brilliant radiance that brought little comfort to the tall commander of the CCG's Special Countermeasures Unit as he stood with a stern and gruff look on his face. Standing just outside the opened entrance of the scrap yard with just his black coat and business attire, Itsuki Marude appeared unfazed by the tension in the air while both Akira Mado and Kureo Mado stood at his side, armed with rifles in their hands while keeping their enclosed quinques secured on their hips. "Smells awful over here… It's like you can _smell_ the cancer in the air…" Marude muttered bitterly to the fully armored father and daughter beside him as he accidentally took a whiff of the pungent smell of burning kagune-reinforced soldered metal in the air. "… How long is this motherfucker going to take…? I've got an ass load of work to get done, and this is getting in the way of that…!" The commander complained as he glared bitterly at the fenced gate before him.

Snickering at the whimsical and colorful language that Marude was condoning, Kureo shook his head in amusement before taking in a breath to compose himself. "Now, now, Commander… These folks are just doing what they think is right; you can't blame them for being fed up with bureaucracy, can you?" The older man questioned half-jokingly, which earned him a half-hearted chuckle from the commander.

"Trust me, I'm not holding it against them for that; I know what it's like to deal with bureaucratic bullshit from firsthand experience… No, I'm not angry that these dumb sons of a bitches want to take the law into their own hands, but I am pretty pissed off that this '24th Ward Judge' or whatever Nazi-bullshit leader is taking his sweet ass time getting here…" Marude sighed as he finished up his rant.

Clearing her throat, Akira gripped the handle underneath the barrel of her rifle slightly tighter as she nodded over to the gate. "Commander, it looks like you're in luck… They're here."

"About damn time…!" Marude muttered to his guards as they stood by while the two chained fenced gates of the entrance were pulled open by two hooded members from the Sons of Tokyo. Although the human-supremist group had admired the authoritarian figures far more than ever since the CCG had declared martial law decades ago, due to their radical ideas that the Sons of Tokyo had, the two groups were still known to have skirmishes occasionally; hence why Marude couldn't help but shift hand close to his concealed firearm the moment the 24th Ward's Judge came into view. Dressed completely in a full bodysuit, the muscular figure's entire being was shrouded in black with the only distinguishable features on what Marude assumed was a man being a pair of white gloves and a white pompous and long wig that resembled the ones worn by the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Needless to say, this was far more dramatic and theatrical than Marude had been hoping for.

Speaking in a loud and boom voice that actually somewhat intimidated the veteran commander, The Judge gave a formal bow before greeting the somewhat jumpy man. "**Salutations, Commander Marude; I see that our trial has been discovered by your intelligence bureau somehow… What a shame too; I'd hate for this to be an inconvenience for you rather than the asset that it was intended to be… Regardless, as a member of the law myself, I feel it necessary to show you our collection of transgressors… Please, allow me to do the honors of showing you the accused.**"

Still cautious of the rather formal and tall man before him, Marude refused to give the man the benefit of the doubt before laying down his own ground rules. Giving both Akira and Kureo a knowing nod before gesturing with his thin eyes over toward the small group of twelve militia members standing behind The Judge, all armed with assault rifles and shotguns, the commander made sure that his guards were ready to unload their clips into The Judge and his men at the drop of a hat. "… As a show of good faith, how about you have your men drop their firearms on the ground and peacefully head out to the patrolmen outside? For your cooperation and good intentions, I'm sure the sentence you all will receive will be extremely light…"

While Marude's request was usually met with cooperation, to The Judge however, what he was asking for seemed ridiculous to him due to the man being far more familiar with the law than the commander's surface knowledge. Letting out a deep chuckle, the powdered white wig of The Judge swayed back and forth as he shook his head slowly at the man. "**Hahaha… No, I don't think my men will be doing anything of the sort… I know what's to come after this Commander… We're all going to face enough felony charges to have us locked away for quite a bit of time; even with good behavior and cooperation… You are in no position to negotiate with men who are prepared to become martyrs for what's right…**" Gritting his teeth, Marude felt himself scowling at the faceless man after hearing how the men before him would sooner face death than to give into his needs; something that the commander wasn't expecting at all. No longer able to keep up a stern and unfazed expression on his face, Marude's nose scrunched up at the man as he moved his sweaty hand slightly closer towards his firearm. "**Now, now Commander… Let's be civil about this, shall we? This is far from a war against brothers, Commander; this is a war for humanity against the ghouls to make things right before all we love goes to Hell… So, there's no need for us brethren to fight against each other…**" The Judge warned with a rather foreboding tone in his voice as he pointed a pearly-white gloved finger over toward Marude's hand that was mere centimeters away from the handle of his firearm. "**Come, I do believe that time is a valuable resource that shouldn't be wasted…**" Without another word leaving his hidden lips, The Judge waved for Marude to follow behind him as he turned his back to him before beginning to walk into the heart of the scrap yard.

Without many options available to his disposal, the commander reluctantly unhooked his radio from the latch on his belt before bringing it to his lips. "This Commander Marude… The Sons of Tokyo have refused to relinquish their weapons and will not be coming peacefully for the time being. I'm going to have to head in for the negotiations to be taken place; I want aerial support on me the entire time… Marude out." Anticipation for what was to come along with a feeling of dread that he simply refused to acknowledge, Marude reached into the pocket of his coat to pull out his pack of cigarettes. Putting one in between his lips, the commander put the pack of smokes away in exchange for his flint box lighter to ignite the end of his cigarette. Inhaling a lung full of smoke from of his cigarette, Marude let out a long drawn out exhale before shoving his flint box back into his pocket. "Come on, let's get this shit over with…" The commander said begrudgingly before gesturing for his bodyguards to follow him as he trailed behind the ominous figure through the path surrounded by heaps of steel and packaged materials.

* * *

Due to the main priority of the Special Countermeasures Unit being to be stationed at the front and back access gates of the scrap yard where her people were facing certain death, Miza Kusakari stood at the helm of her army dressed in her heavily-armored robes that became the uniform for her gang: the Blades. Standing over the hill so she had a good vantage point of the Sons of Tokyo and CCG, Miza didn't need to bother with turning on her recon binocular's night vision mode due to how bright the scrap yard had become due to search lights from the helicopters from up above. With her triangular-shaped armored helmet set beside her stout legs, Miza scanned her eyes through the mountainous piles of scrap metal and towering crates that were carefully organized through out the property until she found what she was looking for. In the center of the scrap yard, bulldozers and other heavy machinery had cleared out an area that was illuminated by not only the helicopters from up above, but by the large bon fire that was in the middle of a circle of hostages. The captives, who she could only assume were composed of both ghouls and humans who openly supported ghouls, were all tied up by metal stakes that were planted deep into the Earth around the bonfire; each of the captives had blindfolds around their eyes and duct tape around their mouths to silence their cries as they squirmed against the tight and powerful bindings that held them in place. The sight disgusted Miza, and only further added fuel to the fire in her soul as she angrily shoved her binoculars back into their pouch. Miza had seen more than enough evidence to finalize her decision: the 24th Ward's chapter of the Sons of Tokyo were to die that night by her gang's hand. "Those bastards… Tatara, I hope your anti-aerial unit is prepared for immediate action." Miza said sternly as she ordered the tall and white-haired Chinese ghoul beside her. "If we can eliminate the sources of light while causing collateral damage to those below, we'll be able to march down without the worry of being shot at from above by the helicopters."

Although his cold and calculating red eyes were all that Miza could see due to the red half-mask that covered his nose and lips, the leader of the Blades sensed that there was a smile of satisfaction spread across Tatara's lips after hearing those words. "**So then, I'm assuming that you've made up your mind then?**" The tall and usually stoic man asked in a rather pleased voice as he received a nod from the short ghoul in charge. "**Very well, then might I suggest after we strike down their aerial support, I lead my unit around the perimeter to ambush CCG? That'll provide you more time and less distractions to worry about so you can focus on rescuing the captives.**" Tatara said suggestively, which made Miza smile back in approval.

"Excellent, then I'll put my trust into you and your unit to create a distraction… Hakatori." Miza called out as she turned to her other side to address the young ghoul who stared back at her from behind her white mask that covered her red eyes and serious expression.

"**Yes, Three Blades?**" Hakatori said in a military-like fashion as she formally addressed Miza by her alias.

"Hakatori, you and your brothers will lead your unit behind me, but as soon as we're inside the scrap yard, I want your unit to spread out and eliminate anyone who refuses to surrender, but only if they're in a CCG uniform… The Sons of Tokyo will not be shown mercy and will be put down like the dogs they are." Miza ordered in a determined tone of voice as she involuntarily clenched her fists at the mere thought of those who were hateful enough to target her kind for the way they were born. "For the ones who are smart enough to surrender, commandeer their weapons and lead them out of the scrap yard… We'll keep as prisoners of war and as bargaining chips to exchange for those of us who have been imprisoned by CCG."

"**Aye Three Blades, my brothers and I will not fail you.**" Hakatori replied back sternly as she stood at attention with her arms and hands to her sides. "**We shall deliver them to their deaths and into judgement with our unbreakable will and strength…!**"

Sharing the same burning passion that the ghoul standing before her was displaying, another wave of motivation and inner resolve flourished through the leader of the Blades as she bent down to put on her own helmet before turning around to face her gang who stood at the ready with their shields and quinques in hand. "**Brothers and sisters, tonight we put the final nail in the coffin for the 24****th**** Ward's Sons of Tokyo chapter, and with it we must raise our flag to our oppressors to show them what true honor and courage is! Tonight, there are a number of you who will fight bravely, but not see light of day… Fear not, for you'll be joining your family in the afterlife; the same family who watches over us this very night… Fight with me, because until the instant I draw my last breath on this Earth, I, the leader of the Blades will fight with my head held high! So come, let's send them back into Hell where they belong!**" Raising her red trident into the air, Miza was met with not a formal round of applause, but rather a fury of roars with fiery passion in the hearts of her gang members that shook the surrounding Earth to its core. Turning around with her trident still in hand, Miza stared directly through the slits of her helmet toward her next field of battle before signaling Tatara to give the order with her quinque aimed towards the helicopters in the distance.

Giving a silent nod to his leader, the tall man dressed in white armored robes raised his fist into the air and waited patiently as his men and women in his unit came rushing towards the front of the army of gang members with their large infrared guided missile launchers in their hands as they lined up horizontally. Standing with his men and women who had their sights locked on to the hovering helicopters in the near distance, Tatara kept his fist into the air as he stared off toward his unit's targets. "**… Fire.**" Tatara said as he ordered his unit in a calm yet stern voice while swinging his hand down to signal for them to launch their attack. As if though they were a hive mind, all forty of Tatara's men and women fired their missiles down the line one by one and towards the CCG's aerial support. As if though the homing missiles were fireworks, from behind Miza's mask, the leader of the Blades watched quietly in anticipation as her eyes followed the barrage of explosive ordinance that flew into the helicopters hovering above; except rather than a traditional display of colorful lights, Miza's eyes lit up at the sight of fiery balls of explosion that illuminated the night sky as a rainfall of shrapnel and debris showered down on those who were unfortunate enough to already be in the scrap yard. The ghouls would survive the barrage of debris and burning shrapnel; that's all that mattered to Miza.

Raising her trident once more toward the scrap yard that was now burning with roaring fires from the downed helicopters, Miza let out a warrior's cry that had a domino effect on the ghouls who were stood behind her. "**TO ARMS, BLADES! TONIGHT, WE PAINT THE SANDS OF THE EARTH WITH THE BLOOD OF OUR ENEMIES!**"

* * *

**_I enjoyed writing this chapter far more than the first chapter to be honest. In this chapter, we were able to see CCG, Sons of Tokyo, Kaneki and Hide, and The Blades right before shit hits the fan. Without spoiling anything…_**

**_1)_****_Eto does exist in the story, but is not the leader of Aogiri Tree, which doesn't exist in this AU._**

**_2)_****_The Blades are not the largest gang in Tokyo, but they are far more prevalent in this AU than canon._**

**_3)_****_This story is extremely violent, will have lemons in the near future while containing other mature topics. Although there are lighthearted moments in this story, this is not a happy one by any means._**

**_4)_****_Yes, I said lemons._**

**_5)_****_I always take requests for ideas or feedback, so please reach out if you have any!_**


	3. Battle of the 24th Ward's Scrap Yard

_**Chapter three is here, and has blood, gore, mentions of assault, and plenty of violence packed into it. The author's notes will be at the bottom like usual. Please enjoy!**_

* * *

From underneath the industrial complex of the 24th Ward, Kaneki and Hide paused in their tracks the moment they felt the Earth above them rumbled after the two heard a thunderous series of crashes and explosions that shook the walls of the access tunnels around them. Although he knew that he was only going to be met with the sight of the reinforced steel ceiling from up above, Kaneki couldn't help but gaze up toward the direction where the explosions had come. "**I see that we are not the only ones who wanted to come in uninvited...**" Kaneki mused aloud before lowering his head down to shift his attention over to Hide, who stood with his silenced submachine at the ready. "**Be prepared for what is waiting outside these walls, Hide.**" The young man warned with a foreboding tone to his voice as he swapped out his silenced pistol for his assault rifle.

Certained that what awaited for them up above was essentially a warzone, Hide's resolve wavered in the face of how his best friend was more than willing to risk their lives over something that Hide thought of as practically a suicide mission. "**Kaneki, I don't… I don't think this is worth risking our lives over… We really outta just head back while we still can.**" Hide challenged with his usually calm and friendly demeanor as he lowered his firearm to his side; earning him a somewhat confused expression that was hidden away behind Kaneki's half-mask. "**Hear me out… I know that you think it's your purpose to be here, and that God has some divine plan with you at the helm, or some shit, but… Come on man, what the hell are we going to do?! Shit's already going south up there, so like… Let's just go home, okay?**"

To a normal and rational person, the valid points within Hide's protest would have warranted a retreat; to Kaneki however, retreat was never an option. "**If that is how you feel... Then go home yourself, Hide; I will not be leaving until the 24th Ward's Judge is dead, along with his chapter of the Sons of Tokyo.**" Turning his head back forward to avoid having to see the look of hurt on Hide's face, Kaneki did a weapons-check on his assault rifle while approaching the exit door. Just as he had predicted, the closer he and his reluctant comrade got toward the exit door, the louder the sounds of gunfire and various battlecries could be heard from within the corridor. Taking in a quiet breath with his eyes closed, Kaneki cleared out his mind of whatever troubles were on his consciousness in order to achieve the serine clarity he required for what was to come next. Opening his eyes, Kaneki placed the stock of his assault rifle against his shoulder and got into position as he gave the metal door before giving a solid kick into its handle bar. With the metal door open, a wave of heat washed over Kaneki the moment he stepped a meter outside, where he was immediately met with the sight of a front of a helicopter engulfed in roaring flames that was just a few meters away from where access tunnel's exit was. Adjusting his eyepatch to switch from night vision to a targeting HUD, Kaneki was immediately alerted of someone's presence due to micro echo-locators built into his eyepatch that alerted him that a target was below him. Lowering his gaze to who he assumed was the pilot of the downed helicopter, Kaneki quickly took aim with his assault rifle at what was left of the burnt and mangled man who crawled toward him in jagged and slow movements.

Forced to crawl with the mangled and blackened stubs of what remaining fingers he still had on his bleeding and shredded hands, the helmet the pilot wore was mostly left in contact with the exception of the glass visor that had shattered into the pilot's eyes. Blind and covered in a blanket of small flames that ate away at the skin on his back, the pilot had nothing but a few loose pieces of still-burning muscle and bones underneath his destroyed kneecaps. Left in an agonizing state of mutilation, all the pilot could do is stare up at the unfazed young man before him who he had discovered having the exposed bones on his fingers brushed against Kaneki's boots. "H… Help m-"

Without a second thought, Kaneki quickly lowered his assault rifle to take out his short sword before piercing the man's skull with relative ease. The man's burnt and mangled body tensed up for but a split moment before becoming suddenly limp while his corpse continued to be eaten by the roaring flames on his back. Yanking out his quinque from the man's skull and helmet, Kaneki quickly used the man's ash-covered helmet to wipe off the blood and grey matter from his blade before putting it back into his sheath. Standing behind him, Hide felt a shiver crawling down his spine as he watched how nonchalantly his best friend had been about the whole horrific encounter. "**Dude… What the actual fuck…?**" Was all Hide could bother to muster out as he glared at his completely-relaxed best friend before pointing the barrel of his firearm toward the burning corpse. "**Kaneki…! H-He wanted our help, not for us to kill him…!**"

"**Then he should have asked someone else...**" Kaneki replied back with a bit of sarcasm behind his hidden smirk before uncurling his lips back into a frown as he shrugged. "**Besides, what could we have done for him? He was a dead man who probably would have shot at us without a second thought had he been in better condition.**" Kaneki said in a rather matter-of-factly voice, to which Hide wasn't at all interested in hearing.

"**Bullshit! You and I both know that we each carry reBirth on us at all times!**" Hide screamed in defiance and pure frustration as he nearly threw his firearm on the ground below. ReBirth, the drug that Hide had been referring to, was an extraordinary vial of a special mixture of stem cells and concentrated RC cells that were all stored into a quinque-like syringe. The syringe itself had safety features on it like an epipen, but had far more miraculous feats to it than whatever was inside an epipen. Burns, missing limbs, massive blood loss, disease, cancer, organ failure, the only thing that reBirth couldn't cure was death, but everything else would be healed within a matter of seconds. The drug was considered an apex cure and the pinnacle of medical science that Kaneki might have been more willing to give his vial to the pilot below had it not been for how expensive reBirth was sold for. As a controlled substance that was regulated by CCG's drug administration, the vial of what essentially was a get-out-of-jail card for whatever injury or sickness that either a ghoul or human could be affected by, was the cost itself. At the cost of five million yen per syringe, most Japanese citizens who wanted the coveted medicine would often be forced to take out loans or to resort into reaching out to criminal syndicates who were experts in drug trade. "**Damn you, Kaneki!**"

But as stated above, Kaneki did not feel regret or guilt for not saving the man; he just wanted to continue on with his mission with the vial of reBirth secured on his belt that he had stolen a while ago. "**Oh well… Come on Hide; it would not be wise for us to be near a burning helicopter for too long.**" Kaneki warned with a frown on his face as he quickly sprinted away from the helicopter and the guilt that Hide was trying to put on him toward the cover of a junked and rusted car while doing his best to avoid being seen by the three ghouls who were tearing apart a group of hooded Sons of Tokyo members. With his assault rifle at the ready and his back against the side of the car, Kaneki waited for his best friend to make his way beside him before turning around to whisper. "**See that…? Those are the Blades; I suppose that they are the ones who might have been responsible for shooting down that helicopter…**"

Obviously under quite a bit of stress, Hide let out a quiet chuckle to himself and shook his head as he turned his head over to face Kaneki. "**No shit, Sherlock…! Still though, that might not be a bad thing…**"

Raising an eyebrow, Kaneki tilted his head slightly to his shoulder to express how puzzled he was at what Hide had just said. "**Not a bad thing, you say…? How so...?**" Kaneki asked with a somewhat skeptical look hidden behind his mask as he patiently waited for Hide to cough up an explanation.

"**It's not necessarily a bad thing that they're here because they probably hate the Sons of Tokyo even more than you do Kaneki, which means that if we just let them do their thing, we can go on ahead and focus our resources and time on rescuing the captives…!**" Hide explained with a rather noticeably new amount of enthusiasm behind his words.

Although he wanted to be the one to annihilate the Blades due to how negatively bias they were towards humans, even Kaneki couldn't ignore the tactical advantage that Hide's plan had with it. The 24th Ward's Sons of Tokyo chapter were his immediate enemy and one that he knew he should focus on; the CCG and the Blades would have to meet their end another day if that meant increasing their chances at success. "**... As long as the 24th Ward's Judge dies tonight, then I suppose we can operate through espionage…**" Kaneki spoke quietly to Hide, who was more than stellar to hear that he and his best friend wouldn't be actively shooting men and women if possible. Shaking his head to quickly recompose himself, Kaneki continued to press himself against the side of the rusted car as he poked his head from the side to keep visual on the three ghouls as he waited until they were out of view to make his next move. Satisfied with his opening, Kaneki quickly turned his head back to Hide. "**Okay Hide, follow my lead…**" The young man instructed as he gestured for Hide to keep low to the ground before leaving the cover of the junked car to journey on toward their destination.

* * *

While he wasn't necessarily ignoring the sounds of gunfire and screams over the sirens that were blaring outside of the confines within the armored van he and his team were stationed in, Amon chose not to let the sounds of war serve as a distraction for him as he calmly got up to do a quickly weapons-check on his assault rifle and revolver before putting his compacted quinque on his back. "**... If there's anyone of you who aren't comfortable or ready to fight, there will be no consequence for you if you choose to stay inside the van… Just know that these armored walls will not guarantee your safety.**" Amon stated without a hint of judgement in his voice as he announced the extended offer to the van's inhabitants.

Due to the anonymity that the uniformed armor and helmets provided, the only thing that Amon had to go by other than the different body types of his squad members to tell them apart was their unit numbers that were stenciled onto each of their breast plates. Mutuski, being the most frightened out of all of her squad, was easy to distinguishable compared to her other squad members due to her shaking legs as she gripped her assault rifle tightly against her chest. Shaking her head, Mutuski's bottom lip trembled from behind her black visor as the sounds of gunfire and agony from outside the walls of the van shook her to her core. "**A-Amon… I-I'm s-scared…!**" Mutuski whimpered out quietly, to which earned her a glance from her squad leader.

"**Mutuski, it's okay to be scared; believe it or not, your teammates and everyone outside is terrified.**" Amon said as reassuring as he could while he made sure the RC-suppressant grenades attached to the harness on his breast-armor were secured tightly. "**It's what you do with that fear that matte-**" Interrupting his pep talk with his squad member, four tendrils ripped through the closed doors of the van with relative ease and earned the immediate attention of the Q-Squad.

Unlike Mutuski, who quickly raised her firearm to the breached door, Saiko let out a scream as she nearly dropped her rifle to the floor at the sight of tendrils tearing apart the back of the van she considered to be safe. "**H-HOLY SHIT…!**" Saiko yelped before joining in with her team as they all fired several rounds into the ghoul who had unfortunately chosen the wrong van to intrude on.

With his rifle still aimed down at the now exposed rear of the van, Amon quickly gave another glance over to Mutuski to get her attention. "**There's no more time to waste; decide now what you're going to do.**"

Being put on the spot, Mutuski felt her anxiety peak to all-time high as she watched Amon beginning to mobilize toward the warzone outside along with the rest of her team following suite behind him. Not wanting to be left alone to fight off whatever member of the Blades had decided to avenge their fallen, Mutuski felt the taste of bile in the back of her mouth as she came to the realization that she was better off fighting with the rest of her team. "_**S-Shit…!**_ **Okay... Okay, I'll come!**" Mutuski answered back with an overwhelming sense of dread in her gut as she began to follow behind her squad with her rifle at the ready.

With his entire squad behind him, Amon gave his team a nod before raising his rifle at the first ghoul who came rushing at them with their kagune aimed directly at him. Without a second needed to think about his reaction, Amon fired a round into the ghoul's torso where its kakuhou was before firing a burst of rounds into the ghoul's head; turning it into a red cloud of gore just as the body fell to his feet. With one hand still on the handle of his rifle, Amon used his free hand to bring the hand-held speaker of his radio to his lips as his cold and calculating eyes scanned the horizon before him. "**Quinx-Squad, Special Class Investigator Amon Koutarou, contact has been made.**" Without bothering to wait for a response or a 'copy', Amon clipped his radio's speaker back to his harness before he and his squad took aim down their sights onto the surrounding group of Blades who came charging at them from all sides with their quinques and kagunes at the ready. "**Quinx Squad… **_**FIRE!**_"

* * *

With his vision tunneling and his ears buzzing with a constant ringing, Marude cletched his teeth together tightly as his blinked away the small debris from his eyes. Laying with his back against a pile of rusted scrap metal, Marude knew from the searing pain in his back and the sensation of fresh cuts on his back that he was more than positive that he was going to have to be forced to use his vial of reBirth in his coat pocket. '_Where the fuck are my bodyguards…?_' The commander thought to himself before taking a deep breath to mentally prepare himself for the immense amount of pain that was heading his way. In one quick leap, Marude tore himself free and away from the rusted jagged pieces of metal that had gotten hooked into his back. "F-FUCK!" Caught off guard from how actually painful it was from tearing himself away from the pile of scrap metal that he had been flung to, Marude collapsed onto the dusty ground below. "S-Shit…!" He swore with an agonizing tone to his voice as he forced himself to fight through the overwhelming pain in order to push himself up back to his feet. Panting heavily with his knees buckling underneath him, a sickening feeling bubbled in the bottom of Marude's stomach as a wave of blood began to trail down to his jeans from his mangled back. Doing his best to ignore the agony he was in due to his critical injuries, Marude spat out a wad of blood along with whatever was left of his front teeth as he upholstered his firearm from his burnt and shredded coat. Coughing from how thick the surrounding smoke had gotten, Marude used one hand to lift his collared shirt up to his mouth to form a makeshift mask as he limped away from where the crashed helicopter was. The moment he was able to get a lungful of somewhat breathable air, Marude released his grip on his make-shift shirt-mask and used his shaking free hand to begin reaching into the inside pocket where he had kept his reBirth. "... Where the fuck did it go?!" Fear and anxiety took over Maurde's hazy mind as he searched frantically on his person for the syringe that was the one thing that he was going to be his saving grace. "Shit… _**SHIT!**_" Pure desperation and unbridal rage shook the commander to his core as he let out a scream of defiance as he clumsily tore his coat off to throw it to the ground and onto an area inhabited by a pool of blood and what looked to be an empty syringe. His mind which had previously been a cacophony of distressing emotions became numb and the skin on the back of his mangled back grew cold as he knelt down to examine the scene before him. Peering next the puddle of blood, it didn't take long for Marude to recognize the boot print embedded into the dirt below him to be the same boot that CCG had given out as standard issue. Whatever numbing and coldness that weighed heavily on his body gave way to the boiling pent up hatred that returned to his mind the moment the realization set in that his missing body guards had stolen his reBirth and left him for dead. "... K-Kureo!? Akira!?" Marude called out while cupping his hands around his mouth to help carry out his voice over the sea of gunfire and screams that his ears were now beginning to pick up on.

Unfortunately for Marude, the only thing that came out of his efforts of searching for Akira and Kureo was that he had finally given out his location to Hakatori, who had been alerted of his presence from the ungodly scream he had exhibited just moments ago. Glaring bitterly at the man through the small eye slits on her mask, Hakatori's fingers tightened around the handle of her quinque as she followed the commander's every movement. "**He's not wearing anything CCG, nor is he hiding his face… He looks like an important member, yet he doesn't look like The Judge... Still…!**" The ghoul muttered to herself as crouched down to the ground to take cover behind a crate while waiting for the commander to get closer and closer to her position. "**You must from the Sons of Tokyo, and the only good supremacist is a dead supremacist…!**"

"Shit… Where did they fucking go…!?" Marude asked aloud with an overabundance of both frustration in his voice as he stomped around. Not being one to lose track of the mission, the commander understood that even without his lead or bodyguards by his side, it was his job to make sure that the mission was completed, regardless of any setbacks; and there were quite a few laid out for him.

As he wandered into a small path between the mountainous hills of scrap metal and a few spare crates that were scattered near the path he figured he needed to go, Marude soon came to regret his decision of direction the moment he managed to catch a glimpse of the black shining blade of a katana glimmering the bask of the fires surrounding him. "_**DEUS VULT!**_" Hakatori bellowed out in the form of a war cry as she locked in on Marude.

Although he reacted fast enough to step to the side just before the quinque could cut his head half from down the middle, the commander still couldn't avoid having the side of his outer thighs sliced into after Hakatori angled her swing at the last second. Using her kagune as a shield, the young ghoul gritted her teeth as Marude emptied half of the magazine of his pistol into her makeshift defense. "L-Little bitch…!" The commander spat out hatefully just before using three of his remaining bullets to annihilate her exposed left kneecap.

Doing her best to muffle her own screams, Hakatori used her katana to catch herself just as her left leg suddenly went limp from the thigh down. '_Damnit… Without mobility, I'm stuck on the defensive side…! Shit…!_' Due to her kagune being more similar to a tail rather than having anything bulky to make an effective shield, it only took nine shoots from Marude's pistol in total before one of the bullets had severed the nerve that control her kagune that connected it to her central nervous system. Letting out a loud gasp, Hakatori nearly collapsed to the ground as her body momentarily convulsed while her kagune vaporized into a bloody puddle behind her. "_**D-Damn it!**_" Hakatori screamed out in defiance before lifting her chin up to glare bitterly at the commander. "_**Even so… I'm going to fight until my las-**_"

"-Shut the fuck up." Marude retroted bitterly before interrupting her speech with a well timed kick. Thanks to practice and the fact that the reinforced toe in his shoe was made from kagunes, Marude made quick work of Hakatori's front teeth and her jaw. After hearing a sickening crack that shook her eardrums, Hakatori let out a trembling gasp as a wave of pain exploded through her now broken jaw and shattered teeth. Seeing the ghoul before him in a very considerable amount of pain brought a smile on Marude's lips while he crueling flicked his empty magazine clip onto the ghoul's shattered mask before inserting a new one into his pistol. "Ah… A quiet ghoul is a rather fine ghoul indeed…!~" Marude chuckled teasingly as he took aim at Hakatori's head. However, his momentary victory was short lived, because before his finger could pull the trigger, Hakatori swung her katana blindly at him as a last ditch effort to save her own life. Without the katana being able to be used as a crutch, Hakatori collapsed to her side and felt herself freeze up the moment she realized how vulnerable she was with her torso exposed and out in the open to receive whatever amount of bullets the man above her had wanted to pump into her kakuhou. Luckily, a sudden cry of pain from the commander above her gave her a slimmering amount of hope when she realized her attack had landed a hit. "A-AH F-FUCK!" Marude wailed out in agony as he began to put pressure against the hand that had been holding the pistol. Thanks to Hakatori's hail-mary strategy, she had managed to expose the bones and tendons inside Marude's dominant hand to the elements of the scrap yard's poor air quality after having successfully slicing her katana through his middle finger and down to his wrist. However, her moment of pride soon gave way to fear after realizing that the pain he was receiving only made Marude even more pissed off. "Enough of this shit…!" The commander spat out with a look of pure rage in his eyes as he quickly tucked his mangled hand against his shirt before bending down to retrieve the pistol. Before Hakatori could crawl toward the firearm to take it from the commander, Marude shattered her left eye socket and whatever remained of her mask with the butt of his reinforced pistol. "I said… _ENOUGH OF THIS SHIT!_" Marude declared yet again as he stood up to take aim at Hakatori, who could only watch with her only remaining good eye as the muzzle of the commander's firearm lit up like a tiny explosion just before she felt her kakuhou burst from inside her.

Coughing up more blood and teeth than she had hoped to, Hakatori's jaw hung open as she felt her body beginning to grow numb. Realizing that her body was beginning to fail, Hakatori opted for another desperate act as she used her arms to propel herself forward at Marude. Before she could latch her arms around him to tackle him to the ground, another well placed kick from the veteran investigator sent her flying back down to the ground with a thud. With a hole now exposing her pierced kakuhou, Hakatori nearly fainted from how painful her landing was as she laid there in a pool of her blood. Using her elbows to lean her body up, Hakatori did her best to look up at the bitter and hateful man who stood above her as he aimed the barrel of his firearm at her skull. "_**Hurn hin Heil (Burn in Hell)!**_" Hakatori cursed weakly the best she could with the use of her jaw and front teeth at the commander, who despite being in pain himself, managed to smile smugly back at her as he cocked back the slide of his pistol with his teeth.

"Hell? I'll show you what real Hell looks like…!" Marude chuckled as he pressed the tip of his shoe into Hakatori's wound, which made her squirm and fall back onto the ground with a loud scream escaping her blood-soaked lips. "You stupid little bitch! I've enough of your fucking kind!" Marude said jeeringly as he suddenly shifted his barrel down to fire two rounds into the younger girl's chest before deciding to sever the ghoul's tendons from her shoulder with his barrage of bullets; earning him another wail of pain from the fatally injured ghoul. "I would love to prolong your suffering, you stupid little bitch; but I have bigger fish to fry!" With the ghoul underneath him beginning to fall into unconsciousness due to the amount of pain and blood loss she was experiencing, Marude decided to use his last remaining bullet to finally put the ghoul out of her misery.

However, before his finger could squeeze the trigger, a sudden hot and searing pain shot through his interrupted him as he felt three piercing prongs tear through his already mangled back. Before he could react, Marude let out a gurgled wail of agony as whatever had just skewered him suddenly lifted him into the air before thrusting itself deeper into his shattered ribs and puncturing through his lungs and heart. Convulsing as his body began to shut down, the last thing Marude would be able to see as his neck along with the rest of his body went limp was the haunting sight of a triangular knight's helmet staring back at him with a cold and unreadable expression before a woman's voice became audible to his fading hearing. "**Deus Vult, you monster…**" Miza spoke calmly before raising her trident quinque further into the air to suddenly swing it down in a horizontal motion to launch Marude's mangled corpse into a pile of scrap metal. Without giving the deceased commander another thought, Miza collapsed her trident back into its compact form in order to holster it back into its sheath before kneeling down beside her fatally wounded comrade. Holding up the back of Hakatori's head with one hand to expose her artery in her neck, Miza used her free hand to reach into her thigh pouch to retrieve her only remaining reBirth. Miza pressed the tip of the syringe against the artery located underneath Hakatori's cold and pale skin before injecting the dying ghoul with a vial of concentrated red substance.

Working far more effective than what could have been achieved if Haktatori was fed meat, the stem cells were able to quickly regenerate her kakuhou and the rest of her body back into its former glory while the concentrated RC cells inside her provided her with enough nutrition to nearly instantaneously recover from what would have normally taken weeks or days to do so. With the color returning to her skin, Hakatori took a loud gasp of air as she suddenly tensed up momentarily within the embrace of her leader. With her mouth full of newly formed teeth where her old ones had been shattered by her opponent's shoe, the younger ghoul smiled happily behind her broken mask at the leader of her gang. "**Three Blades…! T-Thank you for saving my life; I am forever in your debt…!**" Hakatori choked out with an overabundance of gratitude in her voice as she gazed up toward Miza, who simply smiled back at the younger ghoul through the slits on her helmet.

"**Don't thank me yet, sister… We're not out of the woods quite yet.**" Miza said solemnly as she gestured with a nod over toward a group of fully armed investigators who were making their way towards them. "**To arms, sister; the fight continues…!**" With her keen reaction and precise calculations of where the investigators were going to aim, Miza unraveled three large tendrils from her lower back to form a shield just in time to block the barrage of bullets. While defending herself and her comrade, Miza extended her hand down for Hakatori to grab.

Pulling herself up to her feet and beside her leader, Hakatori picked up the pistol that Marude had dropped from the ground before maneuvering to the side of Miza's kagune to fire the last remaining directly bullet into the head of one of the investigators. Aftering having seen their leading investigator getting the upper part of his cranium exploded into a gushing mess of bone mixed in with bloody chunks of grey matter, the group of investigators were filled with a sudden overwhelming wave of panic that caused them to scatter out of formation as they each searched for cover. With her new group of opponents scrambling about, Hakatori decided to keep the firearm in her possession as a trophy before she holstering it into her belt to swap it for her katana. Activating her kagune to use it as a shield as well, the younger ghoul turned around to face her leader. "**Deus Vult, Three Blades…!**" Hakatori announced proudly to Miza before the two switched their focus over toward their opponents with their quinques at the ready.

* * *

Staring down at the disemboweled Blades gang member who was currently muttering to himself a prayer while being splayed out on the ground with his kakuhou and intestines pouring out of the large missing chunk of his abdominal muscles that had been ripped out, the father and daughter stood amongst the other bodies surrounding them as they watched their latest opponent's suffering. Smirking while letting out a cackle, Kureo gave a sturdy kick into the side of the dying ghoul's head before reaching down to loot the corpse's quinque. "My, my…! How delightful the spoils of war are! Wouldn't you agree so, sweetheart?!" Kureo mused with a hint of amusement behind his words as he stuffed his newly acquired quinque into a large black backpack that he had also looted from the bisected body of a Sons of Tokyo gang member.

Although she enjoyed the onslaught of ghouls almost as much as her father did, the burning image of Marude just before they declared him dead prevented Akira from rejoicing in the bloodbath of ghouls surrounding her. "Father… Do you think we made the right decision…? Should we have left Commander Marude to his fate…?" Akira asked quietly with a hint of regret in her voice as her father craned his neck over to stare back at her.

"Sweetheart… You know as well as I do that Marude wasn't going to make it very far with how much blood he had lost." Kureo reasoned calmly as he did his best to comfort his daughter's worried mind with his solid logic. "Besides, our primary mission is the extraction of the captives; with or without him…" Doing his best to keep his smile on his face for the sake of his daughter, Kureo would have been lying if she had asked if the whole ordeal was bothering him. '_What else could I have done, Akira…? How could I give your life up for him…?_' The fatherly man thought to himself as he stared back at the newly fresh tissue that covered the large slit on his daughter's juglar that had been caused by a rogue chunk of shrapnel. The truth was that Kureo left Marude to die after looting the man's only reBirth to save his daughter's life. Had it not been for the fact that reBirth had cost a fortune, then perhaps he would have had one for himself to give to his daughter rather than stealing one and lying to his daughter that Marude was beyond saving. "... Let's not have his death be in vain; he would have wanted these bastards to die like the vermin they are!~" Kureo suddenly piped up with a whimsical tune in his laughter just as he kicked a large pile of chunky gore into the air.

Finding the courage to smile along with finding her father's excitement to be uplifting, Akira decided it was best to push her inner guilt to the side for the time being as she raised her assault rifle up to take aim at a ghoul that had accidentally stumbled her way to the massacre of limbs and kakuhous that laid splattered amongst the ground. "This one's for you, Commander…" Akira whispered under her breath as she emptied a burst of rifle rounds into the ghoul's chest and head; adding another kill under her belt and another body to the carnage around them.

* * *

Having ran out of ammunition surprisingly faster than he had hoped for without enough breathing room to reload his own rifle, Amon bashed the butt of his emptied firearm into the face of a Blades gang member who had tried to get the jump on him. With his immense brute strength that the ghoul wasn't expecting at all, the reinforced butt of his rifle's stock fell apart the moment Amon nearly decapitated his attacker. Elbowing the corpse of the freshly killed ghoul away from him, Amon turned around to spot another male ghoul coming at him with his kagune covering his arm like a giant blade. Ducking underneath the horizontal slash from the ghoul's kagune, Amon grappled the organic blade-like appendage and pierced it with the use of his fingertips. In one quick motion, Amon dug his hand through the kagune and ripped its nerve out before using his foot to stomp down on the bewildered ghoul's kneecap to dislocate it. Fumbling for his words as he watched the investigator before him reach down toward his own belt to pull out the handle of his quinque, the fact that he was going to die soon no longer mattered to the Blades gang member as all he could think about was how strong the human was before him. "**How… How are you able to do that…?!**" The doomed ghoul asked as he kept his focus on his reflection that being reflected from the faceless visor on Amon's helmet while the investigator's quinque unraveled to its true form: a meter-and-a-half long claymore with a large black-blade.

"**I learned it from Sunday school.**" Amon answered without a hint of sarcasm in his voice as he swung the large blade down with just the use of his right hand. Like a hot knife cutting through an already melted stick of butter, Amon split the ghoul into two halves from down the middle; the inner organs of the ghoul plopping out along with a fountain of blood that immediately made a puddle of blood underneath where Amon stood.

As he kicked the vertically bisected corpse of the ghoul to the ground along with the rest of the gore in the sand, Amon didn't seem to notice that the surrounding ghouls and other humans from all around him momentarily stopped what they were doing to were all staring at him to stare at him with widened eyes. Bringing the handle of his quinque up against his black visor to utter a quiet prayer, Amon's terrifying presence shook the battlefield as he readied his quinque. "_**Preparatevi**_…" Amon whispered through his gritted teeth as he glared at the clearly terrified ghouls who stared back at him.

While Amon was hacking and slashing his way through the crowds of ghouls, Tatara stood in the distance with his hand wrapped around a crushed head of an investigator with a look of intrigument on his pale face as he observed the investigator's onslaught. "**What do we have here…? A human worth his salt…?**" Tatara mused to himself as he stared down at the lifeless and nearly unrecognizable severed head in his hand. Breaking his lips into a smile, Tatara felt something reconsating inside him as he tossed the head of what he considered to belong to a weakingly onto the floor. "**I see… Yes, you'll be my opponent…**" Extending the palm of his left hand out toward the unsuspecting Amon, Tatara's grey kagune crept its way up from his back and up his arm until it wrapped itself around his palm. Placing one hand on the handle of his quinque located on his hip, Tatara's eyes remained focused on his opponent while his kagune began to glow brightly in a cyan-blue fire while the palm of his hand quickly became a glowing white beacon of light. "**Allow me to give you a true baptism by fire…**"

* * *

Although he really didn't want it to come to it, Hide decided that in order to save the captives, he was going to need to get rid of the group of hooded gang members from the Sons of Tokyo that stood around with their backs against the bonfire that casted the surrounding area in an orange glow. With precision of an expert marksman, Hide was able to take full advantage of the automatic feature of his silenced submachine gun, and only needed to take about two seconds to plant a round into each of the hood-covered heads of all sixteen guards without wasting a single bullet. Just because the young man preferred to not kill his opponents, didn't mean that he wasn't good at it. "**Sorry guys; I couldn't afford to give you guys the chance to use those captives as hostages…**" Hide muttered aloud; more so to himself rather than the sixteen corpses that he refused to make eye contact with as he quickly yet cautiously made his way toward the first of the captives. Standing behind a young woman who looked to be no older than a student who was finishing her last year of high school, the closer Hide got to her, it became more and more apparent to him that she had been severely beaten due to the lumps and bruises that covered her blood-stained skin. The moment Hide gently wrapped his fingers around her bound wrists, the young woman let out a muffled blood-curdling scream the moment she felt his fingertips brush against her black and blue skin. "**Hey, don't wo-**"

Before he could finish reassuring the girl that he was there to help her, Hide felt the skin his on his back crawl the moment he felt a hand grip around his armored collar. Before he could reach for a weapon, Hide was tossed on back and away from the screaming woman in one swoop. A cloud of dust and ash shot up from the ground the moment Hide's made solid contact with the Earth below. Coughing for air after having the wind knocked out of his lungs, by the time that Hide came to his senses, he found himself in quite the pickle: Standing above him with one boot on his chest and with the sharp tips of her trident pressed against his neck, Miza stood over him with her knight-like helmet staring down at him. "**Scarecrow… What are you doing here?**"

"**Well, it's nice to see you too, Three Blades…!**" Hide greeted back with a sassy tone behind his already sarcastic words, which Miza wasn't too fond of. "**Hey…! Point that shit somewhere else; you might hurt someone with that oversized fork…!**"

"**You're quite the comedian, aren't you...?**" Miza shot back with an abundant amount of irritation in her voice as she dug the tips of her trident deeper into Hide's neck until trickles of blood began to run down the sarcastic young man's skin. "**Answer my question, Scarecrow…**"

"**Well, I'm quite the active recycler you see, so I'm here because I figured that one o'clock in the morning is prime time to- **_**WHY ELSE DO YOU THINK I'M HERE FOR!?**_" Hide suddenly shouted back with a booming voice that made even the hardened leader of the Blades visibly flinch. "**I'm here for the reason you are; I'm here to rescue these poor bastards…!**"

"**You didn't have to yell at me…**" Miza muttered under her breath before deciding to retract her trident from the man's neck and her foot from his chest. "**Here, allow me to help you up…**" The leader of the Blades said as she extended her hand out toward Hide.

Despite the fact that she was as essentially a dwarf ghoul, Hide nearly fell over the moment Miza's powerful arm jerked him back up to his feet. "**I guess big things really do come in small packages, huh?~**" Hide chuckled with a hint of nervousness behind his words as he wiped the palm of his hands against his pant legs. "**Alright, so I'm gonna come clean to you: I only agreed to come with Eyepatch to make sure that these guys are set free… Maybe you and I could help each other out?**"

"**Help you...? You, the companion of that bastard, Eyepatch?!**" Miza asked with a baffled look hidden behind her helmet. "**That evil bastard has killed so many of my brothers and sisters in just the few months that he's been active… You're lucky I don't do the same to you right here and now!**" Miza snarled as she took a step forward with the tip of her trident once pressed up against Hide's throat. "**Speaking of which… Where is he? Is… Is this an ambush...?!**"

Resisting the urge to scoff at how paranoid the ghoul before him had suddenly gotten after asking him if his best friend was waiting to kill her, Hide shook his head calmly at the unnerved ghoul. "**Nah, Eyepatch is targeting the 24th Ward's Judge… I don't think he really gives a shit about saving these guys, if I'm being honest…**" Hide chuckled with a bit of sorrow in his voice while feeling a wave of relief wash over him as Miza once again lowered her weapon. "**Anyway, I got him to agree on pretty much not bothering you guys today; considering that Eyepatch wants the Sons of Tokyo to be gone too.**"

"**He wants **_**EVERY**_ **faction to be gone… You're partnered with a megalomaniac, Scarecrow.**" Although Hide always knew that his best friend had questionable morals that he often chose to cherry pick when it was convenient for him, such as leaving Hide alone to rescue the captives himself so he could go hunt some guy with a powdered wig, hearing how poorly others saw Kaneki always reminded Hide that he himself was guilty of usually playing devil's advocate. In all honesty, Hide always knew Kaneki was the bad guy in most situations, and although his face was hidden by his mask, glasses, and hat, Miza could tell that he knew what she had said to be true. "**... But I am bound by honor to let you know that I am in your debt for showing mercy to my brothers and sisters; thank you, Scarecrow.**"

"**Yeah, I am pretty fucking badass and merciful, aren't I…?**" Hide mused jokingly as he did his best to pretend that what Miza had just said didn't stick with him. Sighing, Hide tapped his fingers against the handle underneath the barrel of his submachine gun before nodding over to the captive who just moments ago he was trying to save. "**Alrighty, how about we get these guys out of here and-**_**!?**_" The moment Hide's brain registered the fact that the unbeknownst ghoul before him had a sight-laser planted directly on the side of her helmet, he found himself diving directly ahead toward the completely bewildered Miza as he wrapped his arms around her stout frame just seconds before three rounds were fired. A symphony of muffled screams and cries broke out from the even more terrified than ever captives who squirmed underneath their bindings. Taking to the ground, Hide and Miza crawled their way underneath the barrage of rifle rounds being shot at them while they hid behind the bonfire to obscure their attackers' visions. Finding cover behind the kagune-reinforced large cylinder wheel of a somewhat rustic road roller, Miza used her kagune to cover herself and Hide as they made their way behind the large piece of equipment for protection. Carefully peeking her head momentarily around the corner of the large roller, Miza spotted two armored CCG investigators coming toward them with their assault rifles in hand. "**Damn it, this is bad… Scarecrow, I-...**" Having turned her head around to face her now situational companion, Miza's words trailed off into nothing as she looked down to see Hide staring back at her while he had his hand pressed tightly against the side of his stomach where blood was beginning to trickle down from in between his fingers. "**Scarecrow, you've-**"

"**Yeah, I know; they got me pretty good when I dove in to save your ass… You're welcome again by the way…**" Hide chuckled dryly while clenching his teeth. Even though the armor he was wearing had saved him from being fatally wounded, it still wasn't enough to completely nullify q-rounds. The impact from the force of the rounds not only tore into his skin partially, but it had actually managed to rupture his spleen and pancreas into a bloody mess. "**It's just a scratch…!**" Hide muttered through his cletched jaw as he chose to ignore the fact that he was slowly dying before unbuckling the scoped rifle from his back. Even though his enemies were closing in with firearms that were far better suited for close combat than his single action rifle was and he knew that the chances of them surviving were slim, Hide couldn't help but let out another dry chuckle out loud as he prepared himself for what was to come. "**Damn it… Of course I dropped the gun that was made for shit like this... Ain't that a bitch...**" Expecting for their attackers to come closing in at any second, both Hide and Miza were more than surprised to say the least when the sounds of footsteps came to a halt. Instead of mindlessly choosing to sprint toward the duo, one of the investigators tossed her flash bang and RC suppressant grenade at the same time toward the back of the giant wheel. Staring down at the flashbang and gas-grenade, Hide and Miza exchanged hidden looks with each other. "**That's some bullshit…**" Hide muttered bitterly aloud to both himself and the anxious ghoul across from him just moments before a white bright light of magnesium and potassium fused with a red bursting cloud of RC suppressant exploded underneath the road roller.

* * *

Standing ovr the blood-soaked ground that had the bodies of both his men and the ghouls who had been led to him by the now headless Bin brothers, The Judge stood with his crimson-stained sword in his right hand while his left hand sported what appeared to be a pair of golden scales. "**Justice… Justice is defined by the one who declares victory and dominance… Justice is whatever the victor deems fitting… To be victorious is to be justifiable… Isn't that how this world establishes justice, Eyepatch…?**" The Judge addressed solemnly as he didn't even bother to turn his head over to look at the young man who sat behind the cover of a scrapped car with his assault rifle in hand. "**You wish to be the one who decides what is right, and what is wrong… You and I are travelers whose destinations the same; the only difference being that our metaphorical luggage is not identical…**" The Judge declared calmly in a booming voice that would have made most men and women of any species intimidated by it. Kaneki, however, was an exception to this.

"**You speak to me as if though you have a chance against me.**" Kaneki retorted back with low voice of his own as he kept his ears open and his eyes focused in on the set of scales that the man before him was handling. "**There is only a few judges left… With your death, I will be a step closer to obtaining my dream; a dream that your precious Sons of Tokyo will not see for themselves.**"

Slowly turning around to expose his featureless black face to Kaneki, The Judge let out a slow and deep throaty laugh that expressed with it a sense of pity as he shook his head. "**You poor naive child… My death doesn't mean a thing. My body is merely a vessel for justice to do with it as it sees fit, and if there's one thing you can't kill, it's ideology…**" The Judge explained with the same sense of serenity in his voice as he continued to stare back at Kaneki without a hint of hatred in his body or soul. "**Before this battle comes into fruition, I must ask this: Why are you trying to stop the manifestation of true justice…? Don't you understand that without ghouls, humanity will be forced to better itself…?**" The Judge questioned without a hint of negativity in his voice. "**Justice isn't blind as people say it is… No, true Justice is unbiased to the truth… With that being said, you and I know both know that the human population in Tokyo, the world's most populated metropolitan area, is a cancer… Prostitution, mindless orgies, drug and alchol abuse that's so common that even children are beginning to expirement with its effects… Racism that brings forth gang violence and a governing body that rules under martial law with an iron fist… All these things are what humanity has created while ghouls are forced to live as second class citizens in order to serve humanity's lust for vices and to sustain their sinful lives… Without ghouls, humanity must face its inner demons and be forced to improve itself, because without ghouls to blame and take the burden for that sin, we as a deprived species will have to face our wrongdoings and judge ourselves for what we've become… Or die trying...**" The Judge explained as he spoke the last three words of his sentence in an ominous tone. "**That is why I must end your life tonight, Eyepatch… To establish a future for this land to inherit, and for the world to follow in their footsteps… I care not for the Sons of Tokyo and their ideas of superiority over others… The laws of nature will be what I make them to be…**"

Exiting his cover to get a better line of sight on The Judge, Kaneki aimed the barrel of his assault rifle directly at the man's forehead while letting out an annoyed groan. "**You talk too much… I will make this simple: I am going to crush anyone who gets in my way of making Tokyo a city of love; one where both human and ghoul can coexist in a truly free, equal, and safe environment.**"

Standing silently with his prestine-white gloves still wrapped around the quinques in his hands, The Judge stood tall and proud as he slowly nodded once at the young man before parting his lips to speak. "**Eyepatch… This fight will not be a clash of ideology; for it has become clear to me that we both strive for similar futures… He who emerges alive from this battle shall be the one to judge others, and to carry the torch towards this new dawn of which we speak of…**" The moment Kaneki watched the fingers of The Judge tighten themselves around the golden set of scales in his grasp, Kaneki wasted no time in opening fire on the man as a golden aura suddenly enveloped his tall frame just before the bullets could make contact. A small bead of sweat finally broke out from underneath Kaneki's half mask as he saw the rounds he had just fired suddenly richotte off from the man and directly back at him and his assault rifle. Dive rolling out of the way just in time to prevent being torn to shreds along with his now destroyed assault rifle, Kaneki had his pistol and his short sword drawn out and at the ready by the time he was back to his feet. Bulletproof and radiating in a brilliant golden glow, The Judge approached Kaneki with his silver sword gripped firmly in his hand while the scales in his hand with a menacing aura surrounding him. "**Come… Let our power be the judge of who will be the one to carry that burden…**"

* * *

_**The next chapter will be of Kaneki vs The Judge, Amon vs Tatara, and Hide and Miza vs Akira and Kureo. Here are a few things to mention in case there's anything that needs clarification. **_

_**reBirth is a direct reference to the mobile game, and is inspired by Stimpacks. I figured why not have them in this AU considering that technology and medicine is far more advanced in this universe than Tokyo Ghoul.**_

_**Ghouls are still incredibly durable, yet they aren't invincible. Their skin and kagune can be pierced easier by having another kagune-based material clash against them not from due to a chemical reaction. **_

_**Not all humans can defeat ghouls without a quinque. The only ones who are capable of this are half-humans, Quinx, the 1% of humanity that naturally can rival a ghoul's strength, and those who survived the Sunday School that Amon mentioned. **_

_**Humanity is not the nicest group of people, as exhibited by Kureo and Marude and explained by The Judge. It is rare for humanity to bother with living moral lives. CCG has standards for their investigators to follow, yet this still doesn't prevent cruelty and corruption to spread within their ranks. **_

_**On the flipside, due to being heavily oppressed and left to live their lives with the hope that there is something better for them, most ghouls in this AU tend to be religious compared to the humans in the story, who think religion is for the uneducated and poor. **_

_**Kaneki is NOT the good guy who he was in the beginning of Tokyo Ghoul; he's more similar to a crueler version of the Black Reaper who is more interested in his own agenda, and will only help others if it is convenient for him to do so. With that being said, he and Hide do not get along very well.**_


	4. Autumn Sky

_**Here's the concluding chapter for the first arc of this story, please enjoy and read the author's notes at the end of the chapter if you're interested in wanting to know additional information about this chapter and the future of this fanfiction. Thank you!**_

* * *

Although the tides of battle had been turned single-handedly by her squad's leader, Mutsuki along with the other quinx continued to provide covering fire for Amon to further assist the onslaught against the Blades. While CCG suffered mass casualties at the hands of the extremely durable and skilled ghouls, past Mutuski's flashing muzzle, the large fires that were now consuming the piles of scrap metal in the scrap yard allowed her to see just how many hooded Sons of Tokyo members had fallen underneath the orange warmth of the roaring fires that illuminated the cold autumn sky. The Blades had brought with them an army that focused primarily on melee as their method of attacking, which Mutuski soon realized after the moment she ejected the emptied magazine clip from her assault rifle and reached down to get another one from her belt, only realize that there were none left. "**There's no more…?! How could I have ran out of ammo so soon…?!**" Mutuski gasped aloud as she took a moment to look away from the battlefield before her to take a glance down at where she kept her magazines. '_Damn it…! Am I really going to have to fight the Blades in close-quarters-combat?! Shit…!_' Mutuski thought dreadfully to herself as she tossed her assault rifle onto the ground to begin fumbling for her two black quinque knives while three barbed tendrils emerged from the specially designed back-flap of her armor.

Leading ahead not too far away from her, Shirazu soon found himself in the same boat that Mutsuki was in the moment he tried to open fire on a ghoul who was coming at him with her kagune raised up like a shield while wielding a quinque that took on the appearance of a spear. It only took a single audible click from the automatic receiver of his assault rifle to alert the lanky quinx that he was out of ammo as the ghoul before him readied her spear into a thrusting position. With nothing else left to do, Shirazu tried his best to distract the ghoul by throwing his emptied firearm at her before summoning his short-stub kagune that had with it large thorny projectiles emerging from its sides. While the act of throwing his rifle at the ghoul in a last-ditch effort to buy himself some time had worked to a certain extent, it unfortunately didn't buy him enough time to turn around to launch an attack against her. Using her kagune, the ghoul severed the quinx's artificial kagune with relative ease before piercing his chest with the head of the spear. "_**S-SHIT…!**_" Was all Shirazu was able to scream out after having his left lung and rib cage torn into shreds before being stabbed for a second time in his lower stomach. Vomiting a gush of blood that sprayed onto his breast plate and against the interior of his visor, Shirazu let out another wail of agony as he collapsed to his knees with the ghoul yanking her spear out of him to land the final strike to finish him off.

Hearing his commerade's screams of agony, Urie made quick work of the ghoul who had tried to attack him before sprinting over to Shirazu's aid. "**Damn it…!**" Urie cursed under his breath as he raised his kagune-created blade that covered his right arm up above his head. "**Over here (Fucker)!**" Urie shouted at the ghoul that stood behind his comrade. Realizing that the quinx's shout was meant to get her to turn around, the ghoul instead chose to use her large glowing red wing-like appendage that she was using as a shield to launch a volley of kagune bullets at the purple-haired quinx. Gritting his teeth, Urie raised his kagune up to block a majority of the sharp crystal-like projectiles. Before the ghoul could turn around to follow up her attack, Urie ignored the searing pain in his legs as he leapt forward to ram the tip of his long sword deep into the ghoul's kakuhou. With his quinque's blade planted inside her chest, the ghoul began to gurgle on her viscus before collapsing to her knees. Standing over the choking ghoul, Urie ripped his quinque out from her chest before crossing his blades around her neck to deliver a scissor-style execution. "**Know your place (Trash)!**" Urie spat hatefully at his gurgling opponent before decapitating the ghoul. Urie watched with triumph in his gut as the head of the ghoul rolled off and onto the ground right beside her headless body. Making sure not to slip on the puddle of blood that came oozing out of the ghoul's stump of a neck, Urie along with the rest of his squad got into formation with their quinques and kagunes at the ready while they made protective barrier around Shirazu.

* * *

Without the protection of his squad, Amon was on his own. After slicing the legs off of a ghoul before smashing their cranium into gory messes on the ground below, the veteran investigator found himself suddenly wide eyed and grunting in surprise the moment his visors overlay began to flash red towards the right side of his screen while a ringing blare in his right ear warned him of an incoming projectile. Not bothering to stand still to look over shoulder at the incoming attack, Amon leapt forward and rolled against the hard ground just in time to avoid being cooked alive by the jet of blue fire that turned the dirt and sand below its wake into a molten orange goo within only a matter of seconds. Moments after dodging the attack, a series of loud agonizing screams to his left side that only lasted for a split second alerted Amon that although he was able to avoid the attack, others who were accidentally in his attacker's line of sight weren't as fortunate as he was. With his eyes following the orange glowing trail left behind on the ground from where the beam of blue fire had torn through, an audible gasp escaped from Amon's lips as he caught sight of three charcoal-covered skeletons dressed in tattered and nearly-vaporized riot armor scattered across the molten sands below. Distracted with the sight of seeing the Blades beginning to retreat from the battle to search for cover, Amon's visior once again warned him of another incoming attack. After deciding to leap backwards instead of opting to do the same forward roll maneuver again, Amon was especially thankful of his last minute decision after watching the blue jet of fire tear through the sand that covered the area where he would have landed. Turning around to finally face whoever was turning the battlefield into a living Hell on Earth, Amon readied his claymore to his side as he zoomed into the fiery assailant with the use of his visor's HUD to see Tatara, who stared back at him with a pair of cold and calculating eyes that rested just above his red armored half-mask. Gritting his teeth, Amon brought his radio up to near his helmet's mouthpiece while making sure not to take his eyes off the fire-casting ghoul to warn his fellow investigators. "**This is Amon Koutarou; everyone who's outside of the entrance gate, get inside the scrap yard and find cover behind the piles of metal! I'll handle their ace… Amon out!**" As much as he wanted to ensure the safety of his fellow investigators for himself with his own eyes, Amon knew that taking his attention away from Tatara for even a second could spell out his certain death; so he resisted the temptation in favor of sprinting towards Tatara with his quinque at the ready. '_Merda…! I can't be running toward him like this; I have to be able to predict when his next attack will be…! Wait…!_' Stricken with an idea, Amon quickly released his left hand from the handle of his quinque before raising it up to the side of his helmet. With his gloved left hand wrapped around the secure dial on the side of his visor, Amon quickly switched his visior's sensory array and camera from default to thermal; which soon presented itself with its own set of problems as he looked up to see a gobbled mess of orange and red lights covering the horizon behind the somewhat comprehensible silhouette of the ghoul. '_Damn it…! The fires from the helicopters are making this harder than it needs to be; I can't see shit like this… However, judging by what attack was able to do to the sand and those investigators, the heat signature from his kagune should be obvious when he's about to attack… I only need to use this until I get close enough to strike him down._' Amon thought to himself. The closer he sprinted toward the man, the more anxious Amon was becoming. The closer Amon got to him to close the distance between him and Tatara, the more the ghoul's silhouette began to blend in with the other bright oranges and red that surrounded him. Right when Amon got within ten meters of distance to Tatara, a sudden spike in temperature presented itself in a small but extremely apparent speck of white light within the investigator's thermal vision. '_If I stop or change direction now, he'll just shift his aim toward where I go and turn me into ash that way… I'm going to have to get closer._' Within his mouthpiece, the sound of Amon's anxious heaving breathing became audible to Tatara, who's eyes squinted above his red mask at the sight of the investigator before him.

'_He must be waiting to parry my attack with the help of that thermal vision of his… How stupid does he think I am…?_' Having dealt with investigators most of his life, the seasoned Blade member already knew what the special class investigator was up to the moment he watched his left hand raise up to his helmet. '_Those helmets your kind sport are rather bothersome… Parry this, human…!_' Making sure that his opponent was focused on the white light radiating from his palm, Tatara waited until Amon was within his reach before suddenly lowering the aim of his kagune toward the ground between him and his opponent.

"**What the…?!**" Amon muttered under his breath in confusion, but soon found an answer to his quiet question the moment he realized what the ghoul was doing. With powerful blast of blue fire tearing through the ground before him, the blue streaming jet of fire launched molten glass up in the air like a volcano. All Amon could see through his thermal vision was nothing but a blinding wave of white light. "_**SHIT!**_" Amon swore aloud as he raised his blade up to block the sideways-horizontal slash from Tatara's quinque while gritting his teeth as the molten glass from above landed on him. A loud and gruff groan of agony escaped Amon's lips as he forced himself to bear through the pain of having his skin melted by the glowing orange goo that also ate away at his armor. Realizing that the danger he would be in if the molten glass ate through his helmet and visor, Amon rolled away from Tatara's follow up attack to remove his molten-covered helmet before it was too late. Thanks to the cool patches of dirt that he rolled over as he got to his feet to throw his severely damaged helmet to the side, some of the molten glass on his armor and skin had managed to cool off enough for Amon to better concentrate on Tatara, who stood meters away from him with his own curved longsword out in front of him.

Flicking his wrist while giving his sword a smooth twirl in his hand like a swash-buckler, Tatara's red eyes scanned Amon's facial features and youthful appearance before letting out an impressed and dry chuckle. "**My, my… You're just a boy, aren't you? So young and expectantly inexperienced as well… Yet, the grace and raw power you exhibit on the battlefield makes me believe otherwise… What an enigma you are…**" Tatara mused aloud as he raised the handle of his sword up to aim a strike at Amon, who in return raised his claymore to defend himself.

"You sound like you actually enjoy fighting… How typical for a member of the Blades to be such a warmonger…!" Amon spat back as he mentally prepared himself once more for what was to come next. "_Do the lives of others not matter to you?!_" Amon screamed out with a furious war cry of his own as he swung down his quinque with a booming echo behind his words.

Letting out a quiet grunt of pain, Tatara felt his knees buckle and the bones in his wrist crack slightly after raising the blade of his quinque up to block Amon's powerful attack. "**You dare ask me such as hypocritical question, human…?!**" Tatara asking demandingly as he scoffed at what his opponent had to audacity to ask before quickly retracting his blade back to raise his foot up to deliver a powerful limb-tearing kick to Amon's head. "**You're the ones who are throwing your lives and the lives of innocent ghouls away to protect such worthless piles of **_**SHIT!**_" The Chinese ghoul spat out as he extended his lower leg out with the intentions of decapitating the investigator before him. "**They only want to see us burn! They need to die!**"

"We had things under control, damn it!" Amon retorted back in defiance as he watched the foot of the ghoul heading towards him. Ramming the blade of his claymore into the ground underneath where Tatara stood on one leg, Amon was only seconds away from having his head torn off from his neck just before stepping to the side, but not before grappling Tatara's lower leg. "If you Blades would had never showed up… _NO ONE WOULD HAVE TO DIE!_" Amon bellowed out into the cold night sky as he swung the ghoul over his head by his lower leg before slamming Tatara hard against the ground. Before Tatara could roll back up to his feet, Amon made sure to deliver a bone-crushing punch down to the ghoul's sternum.

Feeling the outer lining of his lungs tear open, Tatara did his best to keep his composure as he swung back up to his feet while blood began to trickle down from the corners of his mouth from behind his red mask. "**The Sons of Tokyo take the lives of others so easily without a hint of remorse… **_**THEY DON'T DESERVE TO LIVE!**_" Before Amon could grab the handle of his claymore, Tatara chose to ignore his own fallen quinque in favor of quickly elbow bashing the investigator in the face. What should have been an instant death for most humans only turned out to be a minor wound for Amon's studyness. With only a splintered nose that bleed profusely down his upper lip, Amon kept to his feet and decided to switch his focus away from his claymore in favor of delivering an eardrum-shattering right hook-punch into the side of Tatara's head. Not expecting the human before him to actually be overpowering him so easily, Tatara's vision grew black as he fell to the floor with a bleeding left ear. "**How…?! How can a human this be strong…?! That's impossible…!**" Tatara asked aloud as he hastily stumbled back up to feet. "**You… What are you?**"

Gritting his teeth at the ghoul, Amon spat the blood that had dripped into his mouth onto the floor before raising a glass-covered forearm up to wipe his mouth before raising his balled fists. "I'm the guy who you pissed off…!" Amon spat out bitterly before throwing a jab toward Tatara's throat. Although he was clearly out of it, the ghoul who had spent a majority of his life practicing martial arts back when he lived in China had managed to block the attack just in time before counter attacking with a punch of his own into the left side of Amon's ribcage. Although it was clear from the loud audible crunch and shifting bones underneath his knuckles that he had managed to break the man's ribs, Amon seemed unfazed by his attack and leapt into the air to drop an elbow down on Tatara's head; cracking his skull in the process. Concussed while his RC cells were being transferred up to his head to repair his broken cranium, Tatara managed to block his throat from being punched before having his left kneecap kicked out of place by the towering investigator.

"**D-Damn it…!**" Tatara grunted under his breath as he felt himself collapse underneath his dislocated kneecap. Wrapping his hands around his kneecap to pop it back into place, by the time that Tatara had relocated his knee, whatever recovery his cracked skull had gone through became for naught the moment Amon's foot landed into the side of his head. Falling down to the floor again with a broken neck and brain filled with shattered pieces of his own skull, Tatara's body became numb and paralyized as he laid motionless on the ground.

Towering over the ghoul who was at his mercy, Amon pulled his mighty claymore out from the clutches of the Earth before ramming the tip of his blade into Tatara's kakuhou to prevent him from recovering. "Now that you're completely unable to fight back for the time being… You're my prisoner of war!" Amon declared as he reached into the small black pouch of his belt to pull out a pair of specialized handcuffs with built-in syringes to administer RC suppressants for hours on end. As Amon knelt down to cuff him, he placed his quinque down beside the ghoul he arresting while glaring at Tatara. "... Try anything, and I'll end your life without a second thought." The victorious investigator warned as he lifted the limp and twitching ghoul with one hand while fetching both his and Tatara's quinques in the other.

* * *

Ears ringing and vision blurred, Hide's icy breath became visible with breath he exhaled as he took shallow and rapid breaths behind the cover of a bulldozer while the two investigators searched valiantly for him and his extremely weakened companion. Before finding his new cover behind the safety of the bulldozer, Hide had to use his hat to cover most of the flashbang's effect before being able to fire a warning shot at the two investigators to buy himself enough time to drag Miza out of the red cloud of RC suppressants and into the cover. "**Shit… I wonder how long our 'musical chairs' strategy is gonna work on these bastards…**" Hide asked with a slight sense of sarcasm behind his words as he gripped the stock of his rifle tightly within his hands. "**Three Blades, how are you holding up…? Think you can help me rush them…?**"

"Not… Likely, Scarecrow…" Miza replied back weakly in a slightly wheezy voice. Leaning up against the side of the bulldozer with her back against the machine for support, Miza silently cursed under her breath as she fruitlessly attempted to retrieve her trident before realizing she had accidentally dropped it back when she and Hide had been attacked. "... I might be able to take a few rifle rounds before falling… If you're able to run fast enough, I can… I can maybe buy you a few seconds of time for you to use to escape before… Before they kill me…_!_" Miza offered quietly before suddenly erupting into a fit of coughs that she desperately tried to muffle.

"**I appreciate the whole 'valor' and 'paying off your debt' noble shit, but there's two of them, so even if you threw your life away like that, I doubt that I'd too get too far before they gun me down too…**" Hide replied back with a slightly annoyed sigh as he realized that the coughing ghoul beside him had actually given out their location. "**... Besides, we're both going to get out of here together, aren't we?**" Hide asked with a small throaty chuckle before peeking out from the corner of his cover with his targeting HUD activite in his sunglasses just as he aimed down his scope at the investigators. "**Alive or dead…**"

On the other side of the scope, Akira's heart nearly skipped a beat the moment she spotted the barrel of the enemy's rifle pointed directly at her father. "**No you don't…!**" The blonde young woman muttered quickly under her breath just as she raised her assault rifle up to open fire at Hide, who fired only a split second too late.

"**Kekekeke- **_**ACK!**_" Not being as sharp as his daughter, Kureo wasn't able to detect Hide's rifle in time, and soon his eyes shot wide open with his breath being taken out of his lungs the moment Hide's rifle shot him directly in his armored chest. Dropping his assault rifle to the floor as his body flew back from the force of Hide's shot, Kureo couldn't help but continue to snicker madly to himself as his skidding body came to a halt beside the bonfire.

"**F-Father…!**" With her assault rifle still directly aimed towards where she had opened fire at, Akira backed herself up until she was at her father's side. From there, she knelt down beside her father with one hand trailing down to meet his. "**Father, are you… Are you going to be okay?**"

"**Ah, sweetheart…! Don't worry about me, it's just a few broken ribs and perhaps minor organ damage from the force of the 5.56mm rifle round…!**" Kureo said reassuringly to his daughter before gently squeezing her hand to comfort her the best he could. "**Here…**" Kureo muttered under his breath as he propped himself up into a hunched over sitting position before taking the assault rifle from his daughter's hands. "**Go over and retrieve my gun while I give you some cover! Considering that our opponents had to rely on a weapon meant for long distance in such close quarters environment must mean that they're desperate! This should be easy pickings for you!**" Kureo reasoned aloud as he aimed down the sights of his daughter's assault rifle toward the corner where he had been shot from.

What the fatherly investigator said was indeed true: having actually aimed at the investigator's head rather than his chest, Hide's shot had been interrupted the moment a burst of rifle rounds came his way; causing him to miss his headshot. "**Motherfucker…! They're good…!**" Hide spat out in a mixture of anger and frustration as he tossed his now destroyed rifle down on the dusty ground with his one good arm. After having been shot four times in the right shoulder by Akira, Hide's dominant arm hung limply by his side as he used his left hand to reach behind his belt to retrieve his tomahawk quinque before taking a second to glance up at the exposed wiring from underneath the bulldozer's cockpit. "**Damn it… Here goes nothing!**" Hide chuckled dryly again as he clumsily swung the tomahawk up to cleave through a majority of bulldozer's wiring from underneath.

Just before reaching down to retrieve her father's assault rifle from the ground, a loud roaring alarm came from the bulldozer in front of her put the fear of God into Akira. Blinded by the headlights of the bulldozer as its ear-piercing roar sent her tripping onto the ground, the young woman's mind began to spiral into a void as the blind white lights and maddening symphony screams and the deafening alarm shook her to her very core. Realizing what was going on before him, the cocky grin on Kureo's face quickly vanished after realizing that his own flesh and blood had fallen for the bluff from Hide's psychological attack. "**Akira, what the hell are you doing?! Don't be fooled so easily!**" Although he wanted for his daughter to be stronger than what he was trying to present himself as, with the alarm blaring and the captives letting out wails while pleading for mercy underneath their bindings, the stress of it all made Kureo experience a traumatizing amount of mentally agony as he looked at the absolute faceless expression of terror of his daughter while she trembled in fear. '_Those… THOSE BASTARDS… ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!_' Kureo thought madly to himself as he let out a cry of defiance before blindly opening fire. "**I-I'LL END KILL YOU! **_**AAAAAAHHHHH-!?**_"

With the protection of the symphony of blaring cries from both the captives and bulldozer, Miza was able to successfully make her way around to Kureo's backside without being detected before wrapping her arms around his upper torso. "Deus Vult…!" Miza muttered weakly and bitterly through her teeth as she lifted the man in her trembling arms before dragging him backwards.

"**U-Unhand me! I'll slaughter you, ghoul! I'll make a bloody coat out of your skin! You hear me?! **_**I'LL FUCKING TEAR YOU TO-!**_" In the midst of his mental breakdown, Kureo continued to squeeze the trigger and fired the automatic assault rifle during the entire time it took for Miza drag him closer to the bonfire before throwing him into it. Writhing in agony, the man's fit of maddened laughter soon transformed into horrible and terrifyingly blood-curdling screams as Kureo felt the armor around his body beginning to heat up within the fire's bask. Even though she had been the one to do the deed, Miza found herself paralyzed where she stood as she felt nothing but a sudden chill and wave of disgust for what she had done over take her. Eyes wide and her body trembling violently, the leader of the Blades found herself regretting what she did and soon enough she found herself involuntarily kneeling down to pull Kureo out from the fire.

Having the voice in her head taking the better of her own judgement, Miza stared down at the still burning man with a panic seizing her muscles as tears began to trail down her eyes. "I… I-_!_" Before being able to fumble out an apology for being the one to deliver such agony upon another person, Miza found herself letting out a large gasp of air as she felt her torso being pumped with about thirteen rifle rounds that tore through her.

With a sinking numbness crawling through her skin, Akira felt emotionless as she watched past the smoking muzzle of her assault rifle to see the ghoul who had thrown her father into a bonfire fall beside his smoking and burnt body like a sack of potatoes. "**What are you doing…?**" Akira asked quietly from behind the safety of her sights as she felt her adrenaline and survival instincts taking over. Being in such a tense situation with her hyperactive senses detecting every little thing around her, Akira was able to quickly roll onto her back before using her assault rifle as a makeshift shield to catch the first swinging blow of Hide's tomahawk after hearing him sneaking up from behind her. Just as she suspected however, the assault rifle was completely split in half from the attack, so Hide was able to successfully land the hit and shatter her visor into pieces while slicing the tip of her nose in half; but her effort to defend herself did nonetheless buy her enough time to kick her attacker in the chin push him away to get to her knees. Shaking her head from side to side to get the shards of shattered visor out of her helmet, Akira ignored the stinging cuts across her nose and forehead as she began to crawl away.

"**N-No you don't!**" Hide grunted bitterly through his cletched teeth as stomped down on Akira's padded rear to pin her back to the ground. "**You aren't getting away!**" Hide declared angrily as he raised his tomahawk above his head with the intention of cleaving Akira's head in half from behind.

Thanks to the fact that unlike Hide, whose organs were beginning to fail, Akira had the upper hand of still having the use of both her arms. Pushing herself up in the air with her hands, Akira quickly ripped the backpack filled with quinques from her back in midair before flopping back down to face up toward her attacker to use it as a shield against Hide's second blow. Although the top of the backpack was easily torn apart by Hide's attack, the plentra of quinques inside were more than a match for his singular tomahawk and gave Akira the opportunity to grab a random weapon that spilled out of her makeshift shield. "**Get the hell off of me, ghoul.**" Akira ordered emotionlessly with a stoic expression on her face as she raised the handle of her quinque up against Hide's stomach where she thought his kakuhou would be.

"**What the hell are you talking about?! I'm not a -**_**!**_" Before Hide was able to finish his sentence, his body suddenly tensed up as a searing pain shot through his now shredded lower abdomen. With blood and bile quickly bubbling up to the back of his throat, Hide could only stare with wide eyes hidden behind his sunglasses at the handle of the quinque that was connected to the meter long blade that scrambled his insides and was poking out from his lower back. Coughing, Hide's body became limp before being shoved to the ground by Akira who had kicked him off of her after having been blinded by the wad of blood he had spat out.

With the knowledge that her attacker was now neutralized, Akira rolled backwards to her knees and began to use her forearm padded armor to wipe away the blood from her eyes as she blindly felt around for her assault rifle. The moment her fingers brushed against the warm metal surface of her assault rifle's barrel, Akira felt a gasp escaping from her lips the moment a boot came stomping down hard on her wandering hand. With loud audible crack momentarily echoing out in the freezing night sky that was already filled with an alarm and screams, Akira retracted her hand and pressed her broken fingers up against her chest out of instinct while the sounds of fleeing footsteps quickly passed by her. "**NO!**" Akira screamed definitely as she blindly swung the nearest quinque she could get her hands on at where she had last heard the footsteps escaping to. Blinking away the remaining blood in her eyes, by the time that Akira was fully able to regain her sight, it was already too late. Not only was Hide's body gone, but after one over-the-shoulder glance at where her father laid while being mere inches away from death, it soon dawned on Akira that the footsteps she heard had belonged to Miza: the one responsible for her father's burning. "**Fuck… Fuck…! Fuck! FUCK! **_**FUCK!**_" Akira wailed out in agony and frustration as she clumsily used her only good hand left to rip apart her helmet off before throwing it down beside her as hard as she could. Gritting her teeth as the sound of crying boomed around her, the young woman madenly began to grind her teeth against each other while the bulldozer's second wave of alarms made her ears ring even more than what they were. With her hearing beginning to become deafened by what was going on around her, Akira had only one thing on her mind during that moment: to silence the screams around her. "**Shut up… Shut up… Shut up…**" Akira muttered quietly under her breath over and over again as she clumsily got up to her feet before making a beeline directly toward her father. Rather than attending to his wounds, Akria bent down to pick up the assault rifle that her father had taken from her in the first place. Akira felt nothing but rage and anguish as she continued to mutter to herself while making her way to the bulldozer to open fire on the undercarriage of the heavy piece of machinery. All it took was a few rounds being fired into the electrical compartment of the bulldozer to silence the alarm once and for all. Despite the fact that the vehicular alarm was now unoperational, the haunting sound continued to play on repeat within the traumatized girl's head. Her job wasn't done yet, and Akira knew what she had to do in order to truly find the peace and quiet she needed then and now more than anything else. Turning around quietly with robotic-like movements, Akira stared wide-eyed at the screaming captives who refused to be quiet for her sake. Tossing the nearly-emptied magazine onto the dirt below her, Akira did the best with what her broken right fingers allowed her to do as she loaded in a new magazine before using her teeth to pull back the bolt of the automatic receiver on her assault rifle. "**Just… Please… Be quiet…**"

* * *

No matter what he had tried to use against the seemingly untouchable man, Kaneki found that no matter what, The Judge was seemingly impervious to any and all physical damage. Bullets, grenades, slashes from his sword all had no effect; even attacking the scales in his hand had no effect on the glowing yellow light that enveloped The Judge's body. As a light series of snowflakes began to fall down on his now damaged battle suit that had gotten torn apart due to the ricocheting bullets and direct hits from The Judge's silver quinque sword, Kaneki could feel the warm blood dripping down his arms and legs beginning to grow cold as he hid behind a scrapped van. Trapped in a battle with an ominous man who appeared to have god-like invincibility, Kaneki felt true dread setting into his body after doing a quick weapons check and discovering that he had only two bullets left inside his pistol's magazine. Due to the snow that was beginning to obscure his sight, The Judge threaded through the lightly snow-covered dirt road while scanning his hidden eyes across the horizon of scrapped cars and trucks. "**I suppose it's true what they say; about hell being cold as ice… Let's not waste each other's time; why not face your death like a man, rather than hiding like a coward…?**" The Judge asked as he begrudgingly continued his search for the seemingly powerless young man.

Swearing silently to himself, Kaneki knelt down behind the backdoors of the van he hid behind before unzipping his mask to momentarily exhale a warm breath onto his numb fingers before reaching into his belt to retrieve his lock-picking tool. Although it was technically a quinque due to it actually being made from a kagune rather than being kagune-plated, the lock picking device was no way of any means a weapon, but it still proved to be extremely useful for Kaneki as he inserted the device into the van's lock before quickly opening it to unlock and open it. Sliding through the back of the van, Kaneki made sure to close the doors behind him to avoid diverting suspicion to his temporary hiding spot as he quickly activated his eyepatch's night vision mode. '_Let us see what the previous owner left in store for me…_' Kaneki thought to himself as he crawled his way through the empty interior of the van and toward the front where he had access to the glove box and middle console. '_Fast food receipt… Cheap matches… And a small half-full bottle of even cheaper whiskey… It will have to do._' Kaneki thought to himself as he tucked away his newly acquired items into one of the many free pouches on his belt before beginning to crawl towards the back of the van where he originally used to access his way inside the abandoned vehicle.

After opening the back doors of the van that were rattling from a sudden gust of the cold autumn air, Kaneki soon found himself face to face with the faceless personification of justice who was presumably staring back at him as the howling wind roared outside. "**Eyepatch, your time has come… Die…**" The Judge declared without a hint of emotion to his voice as he thrusted the tip of his blade toward Kaneki's throat. Knowing that it wasn't going to end well for him either way, Kaneki chose to ignore the fact that the man was impervious to physical damage and decided against his better judgement to kick the side of The Judge's silver sword to parry the attack in one way or the other. Although the blade itself was knocked off course and had failed to pierce Kaneki's body at all, the golden aura surrounding the quinque multiplied the amount of force that it had absorbed from the young man's kick before reflecting the force of Kaneki's kick and hurdled him to the side of the van while also twisting and mutilating his foot the process. Kaneki already presumed that his foot was going to end up in such a mangled condition due to the first hand knowledge of seeing how easily The Judge's golden aura was able to previously fling his sword out of his hand along with seeing how fast his bullets had been sent back after being ricocheted earlier as well. While The Judge retracted his blade back to try again for another attack, Kaneki used his right hand and still functioning right foot to crawl towards the front of the van. Using his left hand, Kaneki fired his last two rounds of his pistol to shatter the front windshield of the van before throwing himself out of the newly-created exit point while narrowly escaping from having his other foot injured just as The Judge thrusted his silver blade forward. "**How crafty… I wouldn't expect any less of you, Eyepatch…**" The Judge announced in his usual ominous and foreboding voice as he walked around the scrapped van with his quinque sword at the ready. "**You are crippled at the moment, Eyepatch… I must admit, even I'm curious to see how this won't be completely one sided now more than this fight already was…**" The Judge mused aloud as he raised his blade up into a striking position just as he walked around the corner of the front of the van, where there was no visible trace of Kaneki. "**How odd… Where could you have coward off to this time…? We both know how this will end, Eyepatch; let's not beat around the bush…**" The Judge spoke in his usual demeanor as he made his way to the front of the van to search for clues of the young man's whereabouts, only to be met with the sight of Kaneki sitting in the driver's seat.

"**Do not get so cocky; this will end with me standing over your corpse.**" Kaneki retorted back savagely as he glared at the black silhouette of the man with his own two exposed eyes. '_This is a long shot, but… God will decide what happens from here on out._' Kaneki thought solemnly to himself as his lowered hands finished hotwiring the van from the exposed ignition circuits. Thanks to the surprisingly powerful microbatteries inside of his eyepatch, Kaneki was able to successfully jumpstart the van in a matter of seconds. Sighing in relief over the fact that the van still had a surprisingly good amount of gasoline left over from the last owner, Kaneki was even more thrilled that the van was still working as he slammed his foot down on the pedal. Although the failed power steering made it hard for Kaneki to maneuver the wheel, the young man could feel his heart racing in excitement as he watched The Judge struggle to stand his ground against the advancing rusted van. "**Your quinque is practically unbeatable in a fight; however, just as you were curious to see how I would fair against you with my broken foot, I too am curious to see how you will fair against an object with constant acceleration!**" Kaneki shouted with malice in his voice as he kept his eyes on the dashboard's various gauges while only taking a quick glance up at his opponent who was beginning to be pushed back. Unfortunately for Kaneki, it soon dawned on him that there probably was a reason why the van he was in had been in the scrap yard to begin with after seeing his dashboard light up with almost every warning light possible.

Although the heels of his dress shoes were beginning to dig into the Earth as he resisted against the might of the vehicle, The Judge let out a hearty-chuckle the moment he heard rattling coming from underneath the front hood of the van. "**Very resourceful, Eyepatch; yet you've failed to take into account that this vehicle's condition is far too damaged for you to operate for long… From the sounds of it, I think what I'm hearing is nothing short of absolute engine failure…**" The Judge mused aloud as his upper torso leaned over the top of the hood while staring up with an unreadable expression on his face at the look of worry on Kaneki's face. "**Now I'm **_**REALLY**_ **curious to see how this will end…**"

"**... **_**Vaffanculo**_**.**" Was all Kaneki had to say to The Judge before what was to come happened next after The Judge raised his silver sword up into the air to plunge his quinque down through the rusted hood of the van into the engine's oil reserves. Before the engine of the car would come to its end, Kaneki was able to blindly drive the van with The Judge still leaning on top of the hood with his legs dangling in front of where the bumper used to be. Howling wind and the sound of decayed speakers playing blues echoed through the interior of the violently rattling van as the tires screeched. Steering was practically impossible for Kaneki, so all he could do is grip his fingers tightly around the steering wheel while staring blankly at his faceless opponent as the radio played on.

* * *

'_Tears of sadness and tears of joy… _

_After crying, it is all the same… _

_It all comes down to the thought, those tears are from the heart,_

_The goodness that we share from our heart…_'

* * *

Twelve seconds; twelve seconds was all it took until the van crashed violently into a massive pile of scrapped car frames. The Judge let out a quiet groan to himself as he felt himself getting pinned against the rusted scrap pile by the completely wrecked van that sent Kaneki's body flying straight into the frames above him. Even from where he was, the sound of bones cracking was very easily heard over the sound of the snowstorm that carried with it a flurry of rushing snowflakes. Although he was unable to free himself from his current predicament, The Judge was still able to watch Kaneki's limp body fall down like a rag doll before rolling down the side of the scrap pile until he was at the base of the metal hill. "**My, my… That looked rather painful… I can hear your ruptured lungs struggling to fill up with air and the sound of you gurgling on your own fluids from here, Eyepatch… And my word, at the rate your bleeding out, I'm guessing that you have about a minute at best before you succumb to your injuries…**" The Judge mused without a hint of empathy to his voice as he watched Kaneki's broken and fatally wounded body twitch violently and tense up as the young man struggled to move. "**What an unfortunate end for humanity's future… You'll die here in the same fashion that you lived your life: cold and alone… I, on the other hand, am stuck here and will most likely be captured by CCG… Soon, I will share the same fate that Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzatti were met with in the 1920's… This is where our dreams die, Eyepatch…**"

"**... No… Just yours…**" Kaneki argued back weakly as he ignored the agonizing pain of having two broken arms and two even more mutilated hands as he reached down into his belt to retrieve his only dose of reBirth. Looking down at it with tired eyes, Kaneki silently swore under his breath after realizing that thanks to the car crash flinging him into the side of a pile of pure metal, much like his skull, there was a large crack against the side of the vial located inside the reBirth's syringe mechanism. With only less than half of the vial left to use, Kaneki injected the reBirth into his neck and writhed in pain as the medicine flowed through his veins. He could feel his skin scarring over along with his bones and punctured organs reforming back to a somewhat functional state. However, it soon became apparent to Kaneki from how much pain he was still in along with how wobbly he felt by the time he finally stumbled up to his feet that the half-dosage of reBirth was only enough to ensure that he was mobile and not immediately on death's doorstep. After all, he was more than aware that the little amount of the miraculous elixir he was able to inject into himself wasn't going to replenish his lost blood or completely heal his tenderized muscles and fragile bones. One hit, all it would take to put Kaneki down for good was one good hit, and even he knew that he wouldn't be getting up from that. "**Do you smell that…? That's gasoline and oil…**" Kaneki mused weakly through his fits of panting as he slowly fought through his agonizing pain to retrieve the three items he had recovered from the van. Popping open the cap of the half-emptied bottle of whiskey, Kaneki tucked the old paper receipt into the bottle before igniting a match. "_**Vai all'inferno**_…"

The Judge watched without a hint of fear inside his being as Kaneki threw the makeshift fire-bomb into the puddle of gasoline and engine oil that mixed itself into the light blanket of snow underneath his dangling feet. As the fire began to spread underneath him toward the oil reserves inside the van, The Judge watched with a hidden smile underneath his disguise as Kaneki turned around and began to limp away as fast he his pulverized muscles would allow him to move. "**Eyepatch… You are hereby guilty of committing crimes against humanity… Your sentence…? Your sentence is to see your future come forth… Until the very end…**" The Judge said as he delivered his final sentence to the damned young man just before the flames underneath him finally made their way into the van's gasoline reserves. Enveloped in a glorious blaze of fire that not even his melted quinque could save him from, the silent man refused to utter a single word or cry as his lungs became filled with toxic smoke while his skin began to bubble into blisters from being cooked alive; no, all that mattered to him was being able to watch in solemn silence as Kaneki continued to limp away from the battlefield where they had fought and pitted their minds and hearts against one another. "**You're going to carry that weight…"** The Judge muttered quietly to the fleeing victor while the only comfort he had in his last moments came from the radio inside the burning van.

* * *

'_All the mornings when I think of you;_

_All the evenings when I feel for you… _

_You bring out the poet in me, philosopher too, my dear… _

_The dreaming girl in me…_

_You bring out the best in me,_

_You bring ~~ the dream to me…_'

* * *

With her father still alive and currently under the intense care of CCG's medical staff, the responsibility of being the operation's point of contact to the Main Branch Office as well as being the newly unofficially appointed commander of the Special Countermeasures Unit, Akira felt the cold autumn sky above the aftermath of the battlefield beginning to make her shiver as she shuffled toward the sounds of sirens and flashing red and blue lights of the patrol cars stationed outside the scrap yard. With her hand wrapped up in bandages and a splint, Akira emerged through the gates of the scrap yard and slowly made her way across the heavy thick blanket of snow towards the ace investigator, who stood waiting alone with a large black parka tucked around his forearm. "What a mess Amon… What a mess this operation was…" Akira sighed as she stopped in her tracts the moment she finally made her way in front of the special class investigator.

"Here…" Amon spoke quietly with a small smile on his face as he unfolded the large parka in his grasp before assisting his new commander with the careful task of putting her arms through its puffy sleeves. "Any word about the captives or Sons of Tokyo?" Amon asked as he did his best to keep his friend's attention focused on what needed to be addressed.

Akira shook her head. "From what I've gathered from the recon team, there's no survivors from the 24th Ward's chapter. Regarding the captives… From what my father was able to tell me before the medics were able to get to him, the leader of the Blades was there with a ghoul who looked like a gothic scarecrow of the sort… My father told me that they used his assault rifle to kill the captives before fleeing…" Akria spoke solemnly with an extremely apparent look of disappointment in her teary eyes as she shrunk herself as best as she could into her puffy parka as the feeling of failure washed over her. "Amon, I… I don't even know how I failed so much… Marude's gone, my father's in critical condition, and the last thing I remember before blacking out is a bulldozer blaring its alarm at me while the captives… Oh God the captives… They screamed so much, a-and I failed them…! They're dead… Oh God, s-so many people are dead, Amon…! I-I failed them…! I-"

Interrupting his new commander's second mental breakdown of the night, Amon wrapped his arms around Akira's shoulders and embraced her. Holding onto the back of her head with one hand, Amon quietly rubbed her back while she buried her head into his chest. Stricken with anguish, all Akira could do in that very moment was sob over the losses of that night. With the entire 24th Ward's chapter of the Sons of Tokyo annihilated, over two hundred investigators killed in action, and with every captive in the scrap yard dead, and the hundreds of ghouls who were from the Blades that were either captured or killed, to which Akira found no solace in once so ever, it all made her wonder on who exactly won that night. Looking over at the dying fires that left white cloudy trails of smoke that rose into the snowy night sky up above, Amon took in a deep breath before exhaling a visible cloud of air before him as he held Akira tightly in his arms. "We're going to be okay, Akira… We're going to be okay."

* * *

Cold, bruised, and covered in blood, Kaneki limped his way through the streets of Tokyo while evading and hiding from every patrol car that rushed over toward the bloody aftermath of the scrap yard to provide assistance to the reinforcements that had already arrived on site. Without his stolen car and illegally obtained possessions, all which were taken away for investigation by CCG by the time he got there, all Kaneki had to his name was his severely damaged battle suit, his practically emptied utility belt which housed only his lockpicking tool, and his blood-stained and torn half mask that was pulled down around the collar of his neck. Other than the damaged armor and shredded clothes on his back, all Kaneki had to show for his endeavours was a blood-soaked black hat with straw coming out of the brims that he managed to recover while searching for Hide. Cold and alone with the only evidence that he ever had a friend to his name being the tattered hat in his hand, Kaneki fought past the fatigue and agony that weighed heavy on his body and heart as he wandered aimlessly through the streets. He didn't know where he was going, nor did he really care as the cold autumn air began to finally take its toll on his battered and broken body. Covered from head to toe with frost and snow, Kaneki soon found himself in what looked to be an upper scale neighborhood that was well illuminated with iron-cladded streetlights and cobblestone fixtures by the time his shivering body finally gave out. Collapsing to his knees, Kaneki refused to release his grip on the brim of Hide's hat as he fell face first into a thick blanket of snow. Despite his best efforts of trying to press on, the young man was only able to get up on his hands and knees to crawl before collapsing on his side. Sighing, Kaneki used the last of his dwindling strength to flip himself onto his back to stare up at the autumn sky above. Laying splayed out with his back pressed against the icy and unforgiving snow below, the only warmth that Kaneki had came from the tears that began to trickle down from the corners of his grey eyes and down his pale cheeks as he stared up at the snow falling down on him while the porch light of the house he laid in front of came on in the corner of his right eye. Through his fluttering eyes, Kaneki was only able to catch a small glimpse of a small silhouette of a green haired woman staring down at him before bending down to his side. Unable to keep his eyelids open any longer, Kaneki felt his world grow dark and his body numb, with the only thing reminding him that he was still alive being the familiar song on the radio of a woman singing her heart out in a melancholic blues with an acoustic guitar playing sorrowfully in the background of the haunting song that came from inside the woman's house. Kaneki had regonzied the song as the one had heard earlier at the scrap yard, and listened in on the lyrics as he was carried inside.

* * *

'_From the heart we all cry for joy and pain..._

_From the heart we all smile and love-ove ove..._

_All the sadness and pain I've felt,_

_All the happiness and joy I've felt;_

_After the time goes by, all is in the past… _

_Bitter sweet pastel memories…_

_All the books my father gave to me;_

_All the books I gave to you, my love… _

_Each time the book is closed, the story's left behind,_

_And I get lost alone…_

_When I was young, I believed there was a sun that goes up and a sun that goes down;_

_In my heart I always thought they were two things…_

_And the moon and stars in the night, were all the same lights and lit up the street;_

_They were the same to my young eyes…_

_Tears of sadness and tears of joy… _

_After crying, it is all the same… _

_It all comes down to the thought, those tears are from the heart,_

_The goodness that we share from our heart…_

_All the mornings when I think of you;_

_All the evenings when I feel for you… _

_You bring out the poet in me, philosopher too, my dear… _

_The dreaming girl in me…_

_You bring out the best in me,_

_You bring ~~ the dream to me…'_

* * *

**END OF ARC 1: AUTUMN SKY**

* * *

_**I'm actually really proud of these four chapters being the start of this story; in the past, especially in my more popular and admittedly poorly written fanfic, Tokyo Ghoul Root Q, the beginning was always boring and flimsy to me. In this story, I didn't choose to start heavy and immediately fall back into a slow pace like in some of my other fanfics as well, but rather I chose to open up the story by dropping you into an arc that would show you how dark and gritty this AU is by showing the horrors of civil war: because at the end of this arc, no one won. **_

_**I am very excited to introduce Eto as the secondary main protagonist of the story, who is similar to her canon counterpart with some exceptions that will be made obvious in the next chapter. **_

_**Again, here are some points to clear up anything in the story just incase it wasn't clear the first time.**_

_**We are never introduced to who The Judge really is, other than he has knowledge of the legal system and that he was the leader of the 24th Ward's chapter of the Sons of Tokyo. His personal identity never mattered, because the point of his character was to represent this world's cruel sense of justice that was based off what the strong decided to be right and wrong. **_

_**Hide is presumed to be dead, because it's never specified whether Miza was able to save him from his injuries or not. Kaneki is under the assumption he was K.I.A. (Killed In Action).**_

_**Akira doesn't recall ever killing the captives while she was blacked out while fighting Hide and Miza. Her father, much like how he handled leaving behind Marude, lied to his daughter in order to protect her. If Kaneki and Hide hadn't intervened in the first chapter, then Ryouko and Hinami would both be dead for certain. **_

_**Tatara, Miza, Hakatori, and a few remaining ghouls are the only survivors from the Blades' gang. Tatara is imprisoned, while Miza and Hakatori are presumably free. A lot of people died in this arc; very few were taken prisoner.**_

_**The song that Kaneki hears playing in Eto's house is actually from Mobile Suit Gundam: Thunderbolt. It's titled 'The Dreaming Girl in Me,' and is a really good and sad song that I highly recommend listening to. **_

_**Thank you for reading this far into my fanfiction, and as a reminder, if any of you have any recommendations or idea that you'd like to see being used in this story please let me know in either a DM or as a review. Thank you, and have a good night.**_


	5. Stand Up to Victory

_**Thank you very much for the feedback for the first arc, and thank you for reading this far into my fanfiction! I appreciate you all, and please don't hesitate to reach out to me for feedback or ideas! Thank you!**_

_**Like always, the author notes will be at the bottom. Enjoy!**_

* * *

Within the somewhat roomy confines of the upstairs area that housed several apartments that several ghouls called their home, four ghouls stood amongst each other in one particular apartment that housed Kaneki's unconscious body. Hooked up to several IVs and a small EKG that Hikari had managed to sneak home from the hospital where she worked at, she along with her brother, the manager, and the daughter of the manager all stood in uncomfortable silence while the heart monitor occasionally beeped. "Jesus Christ Eto, where the hell did you find this kid at…? In Iraq…?" Hikari asked, slightly bewildered to how exactly the young man before her had even stayed alive long enough for her to show up. "Poor thing was practically about to die before I showed up..." Hikari muttered in a low voice to the half-ghoul with a somewhat on-edge voice while running her fingers through her pale-purple hair. "You wouldn't believe how much shrapnel he had in him; not to mention how pale he was... He must have been in one hell of a mess…"

Standing in nothing but her pajama bottoms and her oversized hoodie, Eto's body was still trembling after having rushed over on foot to her father's cafe the moment she had wrapped Kaneki's limp and frozen body in a blanket. "I wish I knew, Dr. Kirishima... One moment I was walking outside to see what had set off my porch light, and then the next thing I knew, I saw him laying down in the snow…" Eto recalled, while feeling the previous stress and anxiety that she had felt before threatening to return just from having to talk about it. "Thank you again, everyone, for helping me; sorry for the inconvenience… I would have taken him to the hospital, but… I panicked, and I honestly don't know if that would have been the smart choice."

Resting his hand over his daughter's shoulder, Kuzen smiled gently at Eto with a look of reassurance on his wrinkled face. "You did the right thing, sweetheart; don't ever feel the need to apologize for wanting to help someone in need… Isn't that right, Dr. Kirishima?" Kuzen asked politely, with a slightly knowing look in his seemingly-closed eyes as he turned his head over to look at the purple-haired ghoul. "Helping those in need was the reason why you wanted to become a nurse, was it not…?"

"Of course, Mr. Yoshimura…! I-I wasn't trying to imply that your daughter shouldn't have called me over like how she did…!" Hikari shot back with a sudden look of shock on her face; almost borderline offended at the idea of being accused that she wasn't a God-fearing ghoul who had a passion for helping others in need. "Eto, I… I cannot stress enough how happy I am that you were able to call me in time for me to save this young boy's life… These days, life is so precious and vulnerable; it's a shame how many are thrown away…" Hikari laminated solemnly, before finishing her sentence off with a sigh."I'm sorry Eto if I made you feel like you were a bother to me. What you did her tonight was brave, heroic, and selfless; and I'll always be there for you… You're practically a daughter to Arata and I…" The exhausted ghoul said with a chuckle, as she placed her hand on top of the half-ghoul's head of green messy hair.

Reaching up to hold on to the older woman's gentle, yet firm hand, Eto gazed into Hikari's blue eyes before finally feeling a smile spread across her lips for the first time that night since finding Kaneki's body in the snow. "Thank you Dr. Kirishima… That means a lot coming from you."

Having been mostly silent during the entirety of the drama, Yomo Renji stood tall with his arms crossed over his chest with a look of suspicion on his stern face as he glared over at the young man who laid in the bed. "I'd hate to break up the wholesome feeling in the room, but… Are we going to ignore the fact that we have a human in the cafe? Let alone one that came in here with this!?" Yomo questioned with a raised brow, before presenting the three others with a black half-mask that he held in his hand. "This mask belonged to Ken… And this is the exact same one that Uta made for him over four years ago…" Yomo announced to the room before tossing the half mask at the foot of the mattress, before turning his head over to the young man who inhabited the bed. "This guy… I don't know who the hell he thinks he is, but he sure as shit ain't Ken Kaneki."

Taking his hand off of his daughter's shoulder, Kuzen kept his gentlemanly composure as he strutted over to Yomo to politely take the smiling half-mask from where it had been tossed before bringing it up to his face to carefully inspect it. "... You're right, Mr. Renji, this is the one that Mr. Kaneki once had on his person… Curious, is it not?" Kuzen mused aloud with a solemn look on his face, as he stared longfully at the young man who laid in the bed. "You know… If his hair was a bit longer on the sides and was snow white, he could pass for Mr. Kaneki." Kuzen spoke softly with a sad smile across his lips; chuckling sorrowfully aloud before exhaling slowly. "... Wouldn't that be something, Mr. Renji? If who we were looking at really was Mr. Kaneki…?"

Noticing the incredibly transparent emotion of longful sadness being expressed on the old ghoul's face, Yomo found himself lowering his shoulders and easing up on his anger before nodding respectfully toward the manager. "That… That would be nice… But we both know that isn't the case; if he was still around, Ken wouldn't still look like a kid…"

Walking over to her brother's side, Hikari lowered her gaze over to her young patient before sighing. "Not only that, but last I recalled, Ken used to wear glasses, didn't he?" Hikari chimed in, with a suspicious look in her eyes as she squinted. As much as she would have loved to prove her younger brother wrong for the sake of possibly cheering up Kuzen's fragile heart, Hikari couldn't help but agree with the overwhelming evidence against the possibility of the young man who she had saved really being the same Ken Kaneki who they had once known. "Yomo's right, Mr. Yoshimura… Ken would have been at least twenty two by now; that kid looks more like Touka's age… He can't be older than seventeen, if I had to make an assumption." Hikaru reasoned aloud as she studied how youthful the exhausted young man appeared before her. "So um… What are we going to do when he eventually wakes up? He obviously had some bad shit in his life, and him having Ken's mask is rather worrisome, wouldn't you say?" Hikari questioned as she turned to face Kuzen, who had an unsure look on his wrinkled face. "... We buried what we found of him with that mask… Either that mask is a replica, or this kid must have grave robbed Ken's grave…"

"That is a rather interesting perspective, Dr. Kirishima… But perhaps for now, we should give this young man the decency to explain himself before demonizing him so soon." Kuzen mused with a hum at the end of his sentence as he raised his hand up to rub his chin. "Although, it not only ungentlemanly of me to brush off your concerns, but foolish as well… I understand asking if we were to judge him based off the fact that not only is he in possession of Mr. Kaneki's mask, the same mask that was buried with him, but that also considering the equipment he had on his person when my daughter found him in such a terrible condition, then it is rather safe to say that we should be cautious of him." Kuzen reasoned, but not without ending his sentence off with a somewhat hopeful look on his face as he lowered his hand back to his sides. "But… Say if this young man truly is at least like Mr. Kaneki… Then perhaps we should greet him with a cup of warm coffee and some desert; just like how Mr. Kaneki used to enjoy those quiet mornings of his… Oh, and Eto, perhaps you can show him some of your new aspiring work?" Kuzen asked suggestively, while showcasing a reminiscent sparkle in his squinty-eyes as he gazed over to his daughter, who in turn couldn't help but give her father a sad and sympathetic look.

"Father… I-" Pausing mid sentence, Eto couldn't dare continue on with finishing the rest of what she wanted to say after taking only one look at how quickly her father's hopeful expression had vanquished in the matter of just a few seconds. '_Father… I know you miss Ken so very much… And I miss him too, but… I want to tell you that the kid isn't him, and that you need to move on like the rest of us are trying to… But that would be cruel to say, wouldn't it? I can't tell you that, can I? It'll break your heart again, won't it…?_' Eto asked internally, as she kept her green emerald-eyes fixated at the corners of her father's mouth that trembled slightly as if he was trying to keep his emotions in check. '_That look… I still remember that look on your face, father; the same look of utter heartbreak you and I had to endure that God-awful day… I don't want to ever see that look on either of our faces again._' Solemnly, Eto did her best to push past her own feelings of melancholy by smiling the biggest grin she could must at her father. "... You know what? That sounds like a great idea, father!" Eto announced excitedly, while not bothering to worry about waking up the clearly unresponsive young man in bed, who still having his lost blood replenished.

Although Hikari was somewhat relieved to see that what Eto had said made Kuzen's hopeful smile somewhat return, she herself couldn't help but voice out her reservations against the idea. "Um… T-That's nice and all Eto, but what if when he wakes up and the first thing he does is try to attack us?" Hikari asked with a cautious tone in her voice. "If this kid ends up being like how Ken first was, then we might be in for trouble…"

"My sister has a point." Yomo spoke up again, earning himself the immediate attention of the Yoshimura family, who had always revered his words. "Look… I know it's not fair to compare this kid to Ken, but… We should still probably keep on our toes around him for the time being." Despite Yomo's word of caution, much like her father, Eto was always one for wanting to give new people the benefit of the doubt.

Taking in a quiet breath to push away any thoughts of self preservation, Eto slowly made her way to the side of the bed. Seeing this, Yomo found himself gritting his teeth with a wave of nervousness washing over him as he made his way to the otherside of the bed, across from where Eto was standing; ready to step in if needed. Seeing the look of worry and over abundance of disapproval in Yomo's eyes, Eto gazed up at the ghoul with a calm and sweet smile across her lips as she slowly reached over to run her fingers through Kaneki's black hair before taking a seat on the side of his bed. "Who are you…? You'll tell us everything in the morning, won't you…?" Eto spoke softly, speaking in a way that made Yomo believe for a moment that she was actually expecting a response from the young man who laid between them. "If you're anything like how Ken was, then… Consider us your allies, my new friend… We won't hurt you…" Eto spoke sweetly and calmly as she gazed down at the face of the young man who reminded her so much of her how her lover had once looked back when she was only seventeen. "... He'll tell us tomorrow morning everything that he's ready to share, and I have a good feeling that he has quite a bit to say too." Eto announced in a soothing voice to the room of ghouls as she gently and slowly stroked the side of his cheek.

* * *

Standing within the grey tiled-walls of his private bathroom, the leader of the Quinx-Squad stood in front of the bathroom mirror with a somewhat annoyed look in his cold-steel grey eyes as he stared at his reflection in the mirror. The large gash on his nose, along with the various burns and minor inflictions he had received from his fight with Tatara had been healed after being treated by the 20th Ward's hospital, without leaving any scar tissue due to being given a small dose of reBirth. Needless to say, considering that the visit was mandatory and went in order of who needed medical attention the most, it had been a long night for Amon. Although he wanted to stay home and relax more than anything, Amon's obligation of visiting Kureo in the hospital made it apparent to him that it was going to be a while before he felt the comfort of his own bed. Taking off his black turtleneck that smelled of burnt skin and sweat, Amon flung his dirty turtleneck to the corner of the bathroom before staring at himself in the mirror.  
Being twenty two years old, the young man's muscularly built chest and rippling abs were far more well defined than most of his peers at the Main Office; and as much as he didn't want to reveal in his own vanity, it would have been a lie if he denied the fact that he took great pride in his body. That's why when he looked up past his chiseled facial features and well-groomed eyebrows to get a gander at his messy black hair, Amon couldn't help but frown at how long he had allowed his black hair to get. "_My goodness…! My bangs are practically only a few centimeters away from covering my eyebrows! If only I wasn't so busy all the damn time…!_" Amon spoke aloud in his native tongue as he ran his fingers up forehead to quickly measure the various strands of straight hair that had gotten caught between his fingers before letting go. "_Forget it… It'll have to wait a bit longer._" The young man spoke to his reflection before shrugging his shoulders as he turned away from the sink to turn on the shower head. The moment the hot and steamy water began to pour down the top of his head before drizzling down to the rest of his face and body, Amon felt his entire body slouch and his muscles relax before letting out a much needed breath as his worries and grime were washed away down the drain.

* * *

Inside the large three story house that the leader of the squad had dubbed '_Casa del Sole Nascente_' (or how everyone else called it, 'House of the Rising Sun'), what should have been a celebration for surviving and completing their very first mission felt more like a reception for a funeral more than anything for the remaining quinx as they stood around their kitchen's island counter. Not only were their hopeful expectations of what it was like to be an investigator met with the harsh reality of how tragic and cruel civil skirmishes could truly be, but the one person who would have been able to turn the mood around for the team wasn't even present. Due to how great his injuries were determined to be by the medical staff at the hospital that Urie had gone to as well, Shirazu was ordered to stay overnight to have his kagune repaired; leaving the three investigators alone as their leader got ready to head back to the hospital. Feeling as though the responsibility of raising the moral of the room fell on him, Urie cursed silently under his breath as he went over to his bluetooth speaker that Shirazu had managed to convince him to share in the first place. '_Of course you aren't here for the party that was your freaking idea… (Hope you're doing well)._' Urie thought frustratingly to himself as he unpaired his headphones to link his iPhone to the speaker. '_Well, if this doesn't make things awkward, I don't know what will… This one's for you, Ginshi._' Urie smiled weakly as he found the song that the missing quinix had been talking non-stop about playing ever since the day Shirazu discovered it on social media; a song that the lanky quinx had once told Urie how much it 'slaps.' Whatever that meant.

'_Fuuuuuuck you, and you, and youuuuuu_

_I hate your friends, and they hate me too_

_I'm through, I'm through, I'm throughhhhh._

_This that hot girl bummer anthem _

_Turn it up and throw a tantrum.'_

In truth, trap pop wasn't Urie's ideal genre of music, but he knew that Ginshi loved it, and that's what mattered to him. Although Saiko was nowhere nearly as startled as Mutuski had been after the song started to play loudly, her blue eyes were still wide and filled with confusion as she turned around from the counter to look over at Urie. "What are you doing, Kuki…?!" Saiko questioned with a slightly offended look on her chubby face as she stared at the purple-haired young man, who was opening up the liquor cabinet to pull out three shot glasses. "Okay, what the hell?! You do know that Ginshi's in the hospital right?! And a bunch of people _JUST_ died, right?! This is no time to party, idiot!"

Giving the disapproving young woman a playful look, Urie placed the three shot glasses down on the black-granite island counter before addressing what she had just said. "So? You think Ginshi and everyone else who died tonight wants us to be sad sacks of shit?" Urie asked bluntly with a bit of sass in his voice before turning around to open the silver-grey freezer door. "Nah, they don't need any of that… Want to know what I say though?" The young man chuckled, as he turned around to slam down a bottle of ice-cooled tequila onto the island counter's surface. "I say let's show them that their sacrifices weren't in vain!" Urie announced triumpfully with an unsure feeling in the pit of his stomach that he was hoping the alcohol would drown out as he popped off the wooden cork from the bottle of tequila before pouring their shot glasses in a straight line. "Come on, let's make this something that Ginshi wants to be here for, not something that he's glad about missing out on!"

Reluctant to partake in drinking or partying in general, the only reason why Saiko decided to step forward to join Urie's side was only because she knew how hard he was trying. The young man she knew was quiet, and preferred to keep to himself and would only really get excited in conversations if it had anything to do with music. She knew he hated taking charge of parties, and would much prefer to just drink alone while vibing to his own music. "You know what…? _FUCK YEAH, SAIKO SAYS LET'S GET TURNT UP IN THIS BITCH!_" The short young woman roared out with a holler, as she downed her shot glass in one gulp before wiping her mouth with her sweater's sleeve. "Oh yeah… Much better…!" Saiko chuckled quietly to herself, before beginning to hop up and down to get herself into a partying-mood. "Saiko's gonna get her secret stash of brownies for the occasion!" The short voluptuous woman announced loudly to her squad members before running to her bedroom; but not before giving Mutuski a slap on the ass.

Although the playful gesture had been harder than what she was expecting, Mutuski couldn't help but snicker about how whimsical Saiko was being in her eyes. After hearing Saiko slamming her bedroom door open upstairs, the young woman made her way beside Urie with a weak smile on her lips as she took hold of a shot glass. "I… I appreciate you doing this Kuki… Especially considering that you're only doing this for all of us; so thank you." Mutuski said, with a grateful tone in her voice as she stared down at the transparent liquid in her glass before sighing.

Looking back at the young tanned woman, Urie quickly took notice of the look of reluctance on her face as she stared blankly down at the shot glass. "Mutuski... You don't have to party with us tonight if you don't want to." Urie said reassuringly with an understanding look in his diamond-shaped eyes as he nodded over to the clearly nervous young woman. "I know you have that book-signing event you wanted to go to in the morning over at that ghoul-friendly cafe… Anteiku, was it?"

"... I'm surprised you knew that; I figured you weren't really listening to me telling Amon about it the other day…" Mutuski replied back with somewhat bewildered look in her green eyes.

Staring back in disbelief, Urie couldn't help but let out a playful scoff as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Wow… Of course I was listening, Mutuski! Why the hell would you think I wasn't paying attention?!"

"No offense Kuki, but uh… You always wear those earphones of yours and uh… You have… You know…" Mutuski chuckled nervously as she hesitated to say what was her on her mind.

"I have a…?" Urie repeated back with an arched brow, as he rolled his hand forward to gesture the young woman to finish her sentence. "Come on, spit i-"

All of a sudden, Urie's attempt to pressure the clearly uncomfortable quinx into finishing her sentence was interrupted the moment Saiko came behind him to smack him hard on the ass. "You have a resting bitch face, Kuki!" The stout young woman answered bluntly on behalf of Mutuski, as she slammed the metallic tray of oddly smelling brownies beside the bottle of tequila. "That's why a lot of us try to leave you alone. Not to mention that you're pretty grumpy sometimes, Kuki..."

Scoffing again, Urie shook his head at the hard hitting news that he had just received from Saiko, as he reached over to grab his shot glass. "I don't have resting bitch face (Do I?)..." Urie muttered to himself as he secretly tried to use the alcohol in his shot glass to catch a glimpse of his reflection. "You guys are judge me too much (Whatever)… Saiko, Mutuski isn't going to stay for too long."

"I figured she wouldn't; she was going to go to Anteiku tomorrow to meet Sen Takatsuki, to get her copy of 'The Black Goat's Egg' signed." Saiko replied back, with a surprising amount of detail in her sentence that made Urie reel back in shock. "What?! Someone's gotta listen to her when you're too busy damaging your eardrums with that loud-ass music you play!" Saiko huffed out with an annoyed look on her chubby face, as she put her hands on her waist. "Saiko _KNEW_ you weren't listening to her! You were on your phone the entire time too, idiot!"

"I was kind of listening to her… I just didn't catch the details, I guess…" Urie mumbled quietly before letting out an impatient sigh. "Yeah whatever… Mutuski, are you gonna drink your shot or not?!" The purpled haired quinx asked with flustered cheeks as he stared intently at the young slim woman before him.

Amused how silly and cute Urie looked when he was annoyed, Mutuski couldn't help but smile as she grabbed a hold of her shot glass. "Sure… How about we make a toast… A toast to victory?" Mutuski suggested with a shy and bashful look on her face, as she noticed the looks of confusion on both Saiko and Urie's faces after having heard her proposed toast. To them, really no one really won that fight in their eyes, but to Mutuski, the answer was clear. "Well, I figured that even if there was so much bloodshed spilt during that battle… The good guys still came up on top of everything, and we're at least one step closer to securing peace…! So yeah, I say that tonight, victory is ours!" Having gone out of her comfort zone to propose and explain the reason behind her wanting to make a toast had paid off for Mutuski after seeing the looks of uplifting joy on her comrades' faces. After a night that would shape their outlook of how horrible fighting really was, the three young adults needed a victory on their side; even if that victory was obtained through just believing that they had won, it was something that they very much needed now more than ever. "So… Let's toast then! To victory!" The usually shy young woman shouted loudly, as she raised her shot glass to the air.

Giving a quiet throaty laugh, Urie found himself smiling wide as he raised his shot glass to the air as well. "To victory…"

Wanting not to be left out, Saiko quickly grabbed the bottle of tequila before raising it up to join in on the toast. "_SAIKO SAYS LET'S GET SHIT-FACED FOR VICTORY!_" The stout young woman screamed out as loud as her lungs could muster before beginning to chug the bottle of hard alcohol.

* * *

Sitting beside her mother, many have compared to her as being an older and still just as beautiful version of herself, Akira rested her tired head on her mother's shoulders as stared solemnly at her father, who laid in the center of the room in the bed. There in the pristine walls of the hospital room, Kureo's limbless body was wrapped in a stark-white bandages; making him appear more like an amputated mummie than an actual burn victim. Although his eyes were no longer functional and his ear drums were damaged, Kureo didn't need to use what little hearing he still had left to know that his daughter and wife were still mourning his condition. "Kekeke… Kasuka… Tell… Our daughter… To shape up…" Kureo snickered weakly as he let out a tired groan. "Crying… Doesn't… Look good… For a commander…"

To say that she was shocked to hear her husband say that would be a lie; if anything, she knew more than anyone about how stubborn he was when it came to maintaining a good reputation for the Mado name and the respect that it had carried in CCG's Main Office. However, staring down at her quietly sobbing daughter who was visibly failing at keeping her emotions in check, Kasuka couldn't bring herself to interrupt her daughter's mourning. "K-Kureo… I don't understand why you aren't taking this… This _tragedy_ harder! H-How the hell can you pretend that you're not grieving?! You're crippled, for God's sake!" Kasuka shouted in defiance before raising a hand up to wipe her eyes clear of what little tears had broken through her defensive emotional barriers. "Damn it… Don't you get it…? You won't ever be able to do your job ever again…"

Hearing his wife's harsh words, one would imagine this would have waived Kureo's spirit, but alas, hearing her woes only made the determined man laugh even harder than the doctors would have thought possible. "You… Think… This is… Going to stop… Me…?!" Kureo asked with a comedic sense of disbelief in his weakened voice. "No… This pain I feel… The limbs that were taken from me… They're all a constant reminder… That I still have work that needs… To be finished…" Kureo stated in an ominously calm tone of voice that was very much unlike his usual fantical persona that he considered to be professional. Before Kasuka could speak on behalf of Akira and herself about how arrogant he was being, all three of Mado family members turned their attention to the door, as it creaked open.

Standing beside a small woman with long purple hair who was dressed in a white lab coat and a pair of red-framed glasses, Amon entered the room with a freshly ironed black suit and blue tie on. "Good morning everyone; apologies if I took too long getting here." The young man announced with a sincere look in his sharp-grey eyes before lifting up a cardboard tray with four white cups inside of it for the mother and daughter to see. "I was afraid of barging in on the Mado family empty-handed; especially after our victory tonight… So, to celebrate, I went ahead and waited to be the first one in line to get everyone some coffee from Starbucks… Sorry Mr. Mado, I figured you would have been treated by now." Amon said apologetically as he began to go around the room to hand each Mado family member their own cup of piping hot coffee; with the exception of Kureo, who had his coffee set on his hospital tray beside his bed.

"You… Better have… Ordered mine black… Kotarou…!" Kureo wheezed out with a quiet fit of laughter as Amon stood by his bedside.

"Of course Mr. Mado; I held up the line just to tell them to make the blackest coffee they've ever tried to make… And when they gave it to me, I told them '_Hey! The man who this coffee is for needs his coffee as black as his soul! Try harder!_'" Amon said jokingly with his hands up in exaggeration to Kureo, who in turn almost hacked out a lung due to how hard the young man had made him laugh.

While her husband was having the time of his life with the special class investigator, Kasuke smiled at Amon's antics as she raised her cup up to her slightly wrinkled lips to take a sip of coffee. As she was enjoying the hot beverage that Amon had presented as a gift to her, the proud mother of one found her attention shifting over to the young woman who stood with a nervous expression on her face; looking as if though she was anxious to speak, but was too afraid to interrupt. "Excuse me, ma'... Oh." Kasuka trailed off with a feeling of disappointment and slight disgust suddenly washing over her the moment she spotted the black armband that the purple haired woman had on her left said that read 'Ghoul'; indicating that she was indeed a registered ghoul who was only following the law. Despite this, Kasuke in her old age still harbored a distaste for ghouls that made her give a dirty look over to the now visibly uncomfortable ghoul. "Amon… What is that ghoul doing here…? Is it lost?"

Coughing into her hand to prepare herself for speaking to the clearly racist wife, the young woman took in a deep breath before getting ready to introduce herself. "Hello ma'am, my-"

"-Silence ghoul; I was speaking to the special class investigator, not you." Kasuka rebutted back with an overabundance of prejudice in her voice, before turning her attention to the young man who she made clear to the ghoul that she was interested in talking to only. "Amon, why is there a ghoul in my husband's room? Don't you know how disrespectful that is?"

With his smiling dropping into an uneasy frown, Amon took the liberty of bowing apologetically to the more senior special class investigator. "I mean no respect, Mrs. Mado…!" Amon said reassuringly with a genuine tone of sincerity and worry in his voice as he back rose up to make his way beside the understandably upset ghoul. "This young woman's name is Rize Kamishiro; she's a quinque researcher as well as a lead scientist for the Main Office… She was actually meaning to provide you information regarding Mr. Mado's treatment…" Amon said as he introduced Rize, who in turn gave an awkward wave toward the family of ghoul haters. "Mrs. Mado, does she have permission to speak yet?" Amon asked, after realizing that the only reason Rize hadn't bothered to join in on the conversation yet was because of the glare she was receiving from Akira's mother.

"Yes, it may speak." Was all Kasuka had to say in response to Amon's question.

Clearing out her throat once more to mentally prepare herself for what was to come next, Rize chuckled nervously before letting out a much needed exhale. "Um… Like Mr. Kotarou has mentioned, after the medical staff had sent in the incident report up to their chain of command in regards to being given permission to provide Mr. Mado with reBirth in order to get him back on the field… I have been assigned to the arguably 'less than ideal' task of delivering word from the big wigs up in the 20th Ward's Main Office about-"

Having heard enough from the overly anxious ghoul trying to explain the backstory of what she had to say, Kureo let out an annoyed sigh that escalated into a loud and wheezy groan. "Must I… Be forced to listen… To this… Bitch's nonsense…?!" Kureo asked as loudly as he could before sighing. "Just… Tell me… The answer…"

Adjusting her glasses while holding back her tongue after having just been insulted, Rize raised her clipboard up to her face to hide her resentful look on her face before delivering the news. "No Mr. Mado, your request for immediate access to reBirth has been declined… B-But, but, wait; there's more…!" Rize quickly followed up with as she stumbled with her words to avoid being used as a punching bag before making her way toward the couch to hand Akira the clipboard she had been carrying in her hand. "A-Although the initial requested treatment has been declined, Commander, the Main Office has been gracious enough to offer an alternative plan of treatment…"

With her mother watching over her shoulder at the illustrations and detailed blueprints of what appeared to be an exosuit printed with color onto the sheets of paper that were attached to the clipboard, Akira arched her eyebrows in both bewilderment and utter shock at what the written detailed procedure entailed in the somewhat-messy notes. "This thing… It looks like a gladiator… What in the world is it…?" Akira muttered out with a slightly demanding voice, as she tapped her finger against the colored image of what appeared to be a three meter tall suit of bulky black armor with an advanced looking gladiator helmet with a mechanical antenna system in the shape of a red galea on the top of the helm that matched the fully armored suit's red armored skirt that hung down like an apron.

"That is the picture I took of my team's latest project and could possibly be the future of your father's recovery if you'd be so gracious to sign him over to me for immediate surgery." Rize said with an extremely excited look in her purple eyes as she fought back the urge to jump up and down in excitement at the mere thought of finally being able to proceed with her latest and most ambitious project since creating the surgical procedure for turning humans into quinx. "Commander... You must be aware that there are two types of weapons that are used against ghouls: the first being quniques, which are made from extracted kakuhous to create fabricated kagunes that can be operated by anyone… Those are only available to CCG personal… And of course, there's the second kind of weapon that can be used to slay ghouls: kagune-plated weaponry, such as q-bullets and traditional weapons such as swords or maces that are made from steel and then coated with melted material made from kagune shards created from living ghouls who work over at scrap yards; these are far cheaper to produce in terms of money and materials, and can be sold to the public who are registered to purchase such goods." Rize explained to the commander, who appeared to be the only one other than Amon that looked visibly interested in what the ghoul had to say.

Annoyed even more than the last time he bothered to speak past his burnt throat, Kureo let out an even louder groan than before. "Just… Get to the point… You filthy ghoul…"

"... Yes, the point." Rize muttered with a bit of bitterness toward the man who she was ordered to help before adjusting her glasses. "Where was I…? Oh yes… So, those are the two forms of weaponry that are used to fight against my kind… However, the Main Office has given me the task to work on their next ambitious project, which leads me to the unveiling of the newest method of not only dominating groups of ghouls in single combat, but even going as far as being able to give the user the ability to single handedly combat a ghoul with a fully developed kakuja on their own…!" Rize announced with a squeal of pure ecstasy and excitement in her voice as she dug into her pocket to unlock her phone in order to show Amon the latest picture she took of what she considered to be her masterpiece. "This is technically a quinque, but it's completely made from multiple harvested kakujas powered by concentrated RC cells that are stored in the tanks on the back… With this weapon, CCG will be able to strike fear into the hearts of our enemies without the need of sending our men and women out there to fight…! Isn't that great?!" Rize asked with a high pitched tone of voice as she wrapped her arms around the tall man to hug him out of pure joy. "Eventually, everyone will be too afraid of my creation to even think twice about breaking the law! We'll win without needing to ever fight again!"

Aside from the over zealousness radiating from Rize's bright face, Amon's grey eyes shifted away from her violet eyes and over to the young woman who had the burden of making the decision of her father's future resting heavily on her shoulders. "... According to that paper Akira has, it says that if he agrees to participate in whatever trail run needs to be done with that thing-"

"-Avuduis." Rize interjected with a slightly offended look in her eyes as she left go of Amon so that she could step back from him. "Calling it a quinque would be an insult, you know… It was made up of over ten ghouls who were ranked as 'SSS', so it wouldn't be right to name it after just one of them, so I went ahead and named it after a Roman General, due to its design choice being based off of a gladiator." Rize explained with an eccentric sparkle in her purple eyes. "Avuduis can be the answer that CCG and Tokyo needs in order to secure a future without violence; it's iconic look and unmatched power will be a symbol of a new age of peace…!"

"... Yes well, this 'Avuduis' project you have does sound… Admittedly quite ambitious; I firmly believe that the decision itself isn't one to take lightly, however…" Amon stated solemnly, as he turned his attention back to the young commander, who slowly nodded her head after hearing his words. "Akira, don't feel pressured into having to make his decision; there are more options than letting your father be subjected for experimentation… We can look into saving up for reBirth ourselves."

Looking up from the clipboard in her hands that had scribbled on its pages a fully detailed outline of what the surgical procedure would entail, Akira found herself suddenly becoming fixated on the reassuringly small grin on Amon's face. Staring at his curved lips, his grey eyes and his black hair that she suddenly found herself having the urge to comb her fingers through, the commander let out an elongated sigh before forcing herself to stare back down at the schematics for the new mechanical body that her father was offered. "... Thank you Amon, but… you shouldn't burden yourself with this…" Akira said reluctantly as she declined Amon's offer before looking up toward Rize. "According to the offer I found on the front page, my father will be given full treatment and a dose of reBirth after operating Avuduis, correct…? Father, what do you have to say about all of this?" Akira asked with an unsure look on her face as she along with all other eyes fell onto Kureo's fully bandaged body.

After a few solemn minutes of silence, an excited fit of quiet chuckling began to slowly orchestrated into a maddened laughter that came from Kureo. Despite having a clearly weakened body and voice, the mere motivation that the injured investigator had received from the thought of being able to lay waste to the very ghouls who had crippled him and slaughtered his brothers and sisters in arms brought an odd sensation of pure ecstasy to the middle aged man. "To power… That I'll have… To decimate ghouls… And take down… Kakujas myself…?" Kureo asked quietly due to his damaged vocal cords, but that still didn't mean that the apparent abundance of excitement was unnoticeable to everyone else in the room. "Sweetheart, the answer… Is clear… What… Are you… Waiting for…?"

* * *

_**So in this chapter, Rize, Touka's mom, Akira's mom, and even Kureo are still alive and well. However, as mentioned in the first segment of the chapter, Ken Kaneki is a young man who the older staff of the Anteiku are familiar with, which means that our main protagonist's name isn't even his own. With the power of Rize's new creation, Kureo Mado will become the bane of ghoul existence in the second arc of this story: Avuduis' Reign. So like always, I'll clear things up that might have been confusing.**_

_**Because of CCG now being an authoritarian branch, executing ghouls is a thing that's only reserved for those who have committed felonies that warrant death. Most ghouls in Tokyo are registered and wear an armband in public to let others know that they are legal citizens. Since the Kirishima family was never hunted by CCG, Hikari and Arata are still alive and present, so in the next chapter we'll be able to see Ayato and Touka interacting with Kaneki. **_

_**Likewise, because Eto Yoshimura is not the one eyed Owl in this AU, but rather really is just a half ghoul that pretty much is exactly Sen was portrayed in Tokyo Ghoul's canon, she never made Aogiri Tree. Which means that she never killed Akira's mother. A lot of the characters in this story will be different than their original counterparts due to having different lives due to living under martial law. The next chapter will explain Eto's situation better.**_

_**So who exactly is 'Ken Kaneki', if our main protagonist is going by 'Kaneki Ken' and 'Eyepatch'. Well, that'll be explained in the next chapter as well, when Kaneki has a chat with Ayato. (Hint: The Kaneki that Eto knew had glasses on, longer hair, and it was at one point white before his apparent death). **_

_**Avudius is the name of an actual Roman General, and the suit will be extremely akin to Arata's kakuja that was made into a quinque in the canon. Rather than having Rize used as a plot device, she herself will be a character in the story that will have a presence in the plot, and will eventually help Kaneki.**_

_**Rize will soon be the reason behind Kaneki's transformation, but it will be far different than the original canon series. **_

_**Until next time, thank you for reading and take care!**_


	6. Welcome to Anteiku

_**Sorry for the long wait, I've been a bit preoccupied and suffering from writer's block. I must have written several different beginnings for chapter six, before finally coming to a conclusion on how best to proceed with the story. Thank you, and please enjoy and let me know what you think!**_

* * *

_Standing outside the large white mansion that had been the residence of the Tsukiyama family, Kaneki awoken outside and within the estate's French-inspired courtyard, laying in a soft patch of well-trimmed grass that tickled his dirty hands. As his vision became less blurry, and the ringing eardrums grew quieter, the sounds of gunfire and screams came flooding into his head. Wiping away the blood from his forehead, the teenager stared down at the white-slated ground below him, that had an orange tint to its granite surface from the nearby roaring fire that polluted the air in a black smoke. Lifting himself up from the puddle of blood mixed in with glass and other debris from the explosion that had launched him outside in the first place, Kaneki positioned himself up to his knees and hands as the realization of where he was soon dawned on him. "No, no, no…" Kaneki muttered under his breath, as he felt the same absolute feeling of despair crawling up his spine, that had scarred him before in the past. Looking up his soiled hands, Kaneki's eyes traveled up his shredded black kagune-fibered sleeves of his battlesuit before catching a glimpse of the same weapon that had failed him in the past laying next to him: the Yukimura ⅓; a quinque modeled after a guardless katana that he once had considered to be reliable. "Damn you… Damn you!" Kaneki cursed out through his gritted teeth, as he grabbed the white handle of the sword before quickly rolling forward up to his feet, where he had just enough time to sidestep away from a CCG dove, who had tried to swing his large claymore-quinque vertically down on Kaneki's black hair-covered head. This was the only part that Kaneki found solace in from that fateful night: the part of the night where he got to slay the doves that had betrayed him and the Tsukiyama family that he had decided to side with; a decision that since then has forever haunted him. "Damn you all…! DAMN YOU ALL TO HELL!" Kaneki roared out in relation against the incoming CCG investigators, with a hateful look in his grey eyes as he leapt forward to plunge the tip of his blade through the heavily-armored dove's neck. Only watching for a moment to see the faceless armored dove let go of his quinque to try to cover his bleeding and fatal wound before soon collapsing to the white-slatted flooring below, Kaneki decided to leave his quinque inside the man's throat in favor of grabbing the fallen dove's larger blade to quickly decapitated a woman, who had tried to plunge her knives into him from behind. Just as he remembered, the doves outside were focusing specifically on him, just as they had done two years ago. _

_Taking a few steps forward toward the exit of the courtyard, Kaneki had only enough time to raise the handle of his claymore-quinque up in front of him to block the incoming head from the battleaxe-quinque that had just attempted to slice him open. As he remembered, the particular dove that was wielding the battleaxe-quinque was one who relied on brute force that Kaneki wasn't expecting. "Eyepatch...! I'll split you in half!" The brute of a man said menacingly, as the head of his battleaxe began to bend the reinforced handle of Kaneki's newly equipped quinque. Allowing for his claymore-quinque get sent flying down toward the ground after letting go of it, Kaneki leapt forward with his hand around the brute of a man's throat just before the battleaxe-quinque could be picked back up again. Just as he remembered, feeling the man's throat splattering and gushing a wave of warm blood into his hand disgusted him, but Kaneki spent no time regretting his decision as he duct down to grab the two knives from the previous dove who had tried to ambush him, before confronting the still oncoming doves. _

"_This will not change what happened…" Kaneki muttered to himself, as he quickly rolled up to his feet in time to use the moment of his somersault to launch the knives into the throats of two doves; plunging the blades of the knives into their exposed throats before quickly pulling out his Yukimura 1⁄3 from the throat of the first dove who had fallen to him. "What is done is done…" Kaneki muttered through his gritted teeth, as he used his katana-quinque to slash his way through the swarming investigators who died violently to his reluctant hand, just as they had done in the real-world. After he finished slaying what he had once thought to be the last remaining dove in the courtyard, the man who Kaneki grew to hate more than anyone on Earth came sprinting through the iron-cladded gates of the courtyard and toward him, armed with a large two-handed mace-quinque that had red glowing veins surroundings its cylinder head. Glaring at the man with nothing but unbridled rage, Kaneki wasted running towards him with his katana raised up. "But if I can JUST kill you, just you! JUST YOU! __**ONLY YOU!**_" _Kaneki screamed out in hatred, as he swung sideways in an attempt to sever the man's arm before he could have a chance to counter his attack. "If… If I can kill you first, then maybe...!" Kaneki spat out resentfully, as he watched yet again as the dove was easily able to use his mace-quinque to catch the blade of his quinque. It always played out like this, and no matter how fast Kaneki thought he was, or whatever different move he could muster up in his head to try and outsmart his stronger opponent, this particular dove was always able to counter his attack. "Koutarou Amon…! I will kill you…!"_

"_Haise, you should have taken my offer…!" Amon spat out through his own gritted teeth from behind his black visor; protesting against the idea of having to kill the very person who he had watched progress through their shared time in Italy. "I told you, you should have just asked for me by name over at the Main Office…!" Amon shouted, as he quickly out maneuvered Kaneki by using his powerful fist to bash down at the flat side of Kaneki's quinque to knock down the blade to the ground below, before proceeding to slam his hardened fist into Kaneki's face. No matter how quickly Kaneki always tried to dodge or brace himself for impact, it always played out the same in his nightmares: Amon's legendary and unrivaled brute strength would always break his nose, despite how surgically durable and vigorously trained Kaneki was enhanced to be. With his vision blurred and unable to brush off Amon's powerful fist, Kaneki was launched onto his back while the back of his head ricocheted against the white slate of the courtyard's outdoor flooring. Kaneki had always known that Amon was not only a superior fighter than him, but that he himself never actually stood a chance against him back then when they fought; hardly anyone ever did. After all, he knew the stories of the CCG's 'One-Man Army', and how Amon had been known for being able to tear ghouls apart with his bare hands. No matter how quickly Kaneki always tried to get up after being knocked down, Amon's foot always managed to pin him down before he could get up. "I tried giving you a chance, Haise… But, you and I both know that letting you live now would be a mistake…!" Amon muttered through his teeth, with an almost sorrowful tone behind his words as he stared down at the pitiful display of Kaneki trying to break himself free from his foot. Raising his Doujima ½ over his head with the bulky cylinder end of his mace pointed down toward Kaneki's chest, Amon's visor covered helmet hid whatever expression of sorrow he had on as he calculated in his head of the best angle to launch the final blow. "Forgive me…"_

_Fighting as hard as he could, using everything in his willpower and soul to push Amon over in order to avoid having to witness what was surely to come next, Kaneki even tried resorting to waking himself up, in order to be spared from the sight of what he knew what was to come next. "KOUTARO, STOP! YOU'RE GOING TO KILL HER!" Kaneki screamed from the top of his lungs, just as how he wished more than anything that he could have done back then as well. Hearing the haunting sounds of small footsteps sprinting across the slatted flooring and getting ever so closer to him, Kaneki felt his mind scrabbling for thoughts while his tears came flooding down his cheeks._ "_**ICHIKA, STAY BACK!**_"

"_Big brother, I-" Her voice, hearing something so innocent and precious that should have been the highlight of his dream, always reminded Kaneki of same ungodly sensation of having his world coming to an end. He missed her voice more than anything else in his life. Before Ichika could finish calling out for Kaneki, a loud sickening crack echoed throughout the burning night sky. Moments after Amon's quinque came crashing down onto Ichika's body, Kaneki felt his ribcage shattering underneath his skin the moment Ichika's small body was plowed into him. _

_Unable to say anything at first, all Kaneki could do as he felt his heart shatter into pieces once more was cry out for his nine year old sister. "I-Ichika…" Kaneki finally called out quietly, as he reached up to wrap his arms around the mangled and bloodied body of his younger sister, before her head rested down over his collarbone to whisper her last words to him. _

"_H-Haise… Live..." Ichika gurgled out, just as how Kaneki remembered her doing. His body broken and unable to do anything except hold his sister as she took her final breaths, Kaneki remembered how much he wished Amon would have just killed him right there and then. _

_Unfortunately for Kaneki, despite wishing to join his sister in the afterlife, he was met with the same solemn and heartbroken words that were once muttered by Amon two years ago: "W… What have I done…?!" Even though Kaneki knew what was going to happen next, he still always did his best to hold his sister as tightly for as long as he could, before being dragged away by Hide just as he did in the past. Of course, just like what had actually happened to him in the real world, the moment Hide began to drag his body away, Kaneki's arms became limp, and all he could do was watch helplessly as Amon fell to his knees to grab hold of his dead sister in a fruitless attempt to use his medikit to rescue her. "I-Ichika…! Ichika! ICHIKAI!" Amon would cry it to the dying one-eyed ghoul; something that always made Kaneki wonder how on Earth the CCG Special Class Investigator knew the name of a nine-year old adopted girl. _

_Every night, Kaneki would be forced to relive the worst experience of his life; an inner Hell that his mind had made for him as a constant reminder of how twisted the world was around him. Everytime he would wake up from his nightmare, Kaneki would remember the reason why he abandoned his name to become 'Kaneki Ken'._

_If he could be crueler than the world around him, than nothing could hurt him again. _

* * *

After being alerted by the sound of crying and the low moans of anguish coming from the bedroom of the apartment she decided to sleep on the couch in, Eto Yoshimura's green eyes shot open wide in a stir of confusion and exhaustion. "What the he- _Oh shit…!_" Eto muttered in a tired groan, as she stumbled up from the couch and onto her feet in a clumsy manner, before tossing the blanket off her body. "Wait, wait! I'm coming!" Eto called out to her distressed guest, as she stumbled over her feet while on her way down the apartment's hallway in nothing but a white-oversized shirt and a pair of black panites. Nearly tripping over her feet as she got to the end of the hallway, Eto used her shoulder to catch herself on the wall at the end of the hallway before nearly shattering the bedroom door into two, after kicking it open. Stepping into the bedroom, Eto was greeted with the sounds of Kaneki's EKG monitor beeping at the rate of one-hundred and thirty beats per minute, while watching him thrash around in his sleep with several tubes linking to the IVs in his arms beginning to loosen themselves out of him the more he tossed around in his sleep. "H-Hey, wake up, wake up!" Eto shouted in a panicked voice, as she sprinted across the room to climb on top of the mattress to pin Kaneki down by his arms and legs using her own body to subdue him. Even with her incredible strength, Eto found it somewhat difficult to keep Kaneki in place to prevent himself from accidentally hurting himself more than he had already done. Not knowing what else to do, Eto could only think to lean her lips close to his right ear before shushing him quietly in a comforting and soothing voice that appeared to be working at first, until suddenly she felt Kaneki's arms wrap around her body to embrace her before letting out a loud gasp of air.

"ICHI-...?!" Kaneki started to scream out, before stopping himself the moment that he came to his senses of where he was, and of the young beautiful woman laying on top of him within his arms. Had it not been for the fact that he had just awoken from a nightmare about seeing his little sister dying before him, then perhaps Kaneki would have been blushing and taken aback by Eto's beauty and her curves. However, rather than focusing on how warm her body felt underneath his cold and sweaty hands, the first thing that caught Kaneki's eye was the color of her hair, and how unkempt it looked as some of her strands draped down onto his face. It only took the young man a few seconds to register the fact that the woman in his arms was none other than the same woman who had carried him to safety the night before. "Y-You… You are the one who found me outside, are you not?" Kaneki asked in a quiet voice, as he quietly did his best to calm himself down and regulate his breathing back to normal.

Caught off guard not only by how the young man was able to recover so quickly from last night, but also by how her morning had begun, all Eto could do at first was simply nod slowly like an idiot at Kaneki before finally coming to her own senses. "Uh yes, I am…Uh, m-my name's Eto Yoshimura, and um… W-Welcome to Anteiku, uh… I uh, c-can I offer you something to eat…?!"

It wasn't the most articulate way to introduce herself, but the comforting and honest expression on her face was more than enough to persuade Kaneki into giving her the benefit of the doubt that she hadn't rescued him for a malicious purpose. What would be the start of a beautiful relationship and partnership began that very moment, and it all started after having been offered a warm meal without even wanting to know his name. Staring back up at her with his cold and calculating eyes for what seemed like an eternity to Eto, Kaneki weighed his options for what should be his next move before finally shrugging his shoulders. "Yes please; that would be very appreciated..."

* * *

Outside of the warm and cozy wooden floors and white painted walls of Anteiku, a white blanket of snow could be seen from within cafe through its pristine and always-wiped glass windows that allowed the patrons and employees from within the cafe to have a pleasant view of the hustle and bustle of the street outside; a view that Touka Kirishima had grown to love throughout the years of being a full-time waitress for Anteiku. Being amongst others who also considered the upstairs of the cafe their home, the young ghoul did her usual morning routine after getting up to fix her bed, which consisted of waking up before her younger brother did, just so she wouldn't have to take a cold shower due to him hogging up all the hot water. After showering and drying herself, Touka dressed herself up in a white collared shirt, a maroon ascot, and her usual black vest and slacks. The last thing Touka had to put on after her slipping her feet into her dress shoes was her trusty apron. Inside the bathroom with the air dryer turned on in her left hand while sporting a hairbrush in her other hand, the young ghoul was suddenly and expectantly interrupted by a knock at the door in the midst of grooming herself after her shower. Already knowing who it was, Touka did her best to ignore the knocking for as long as she could, before it soon escalated into a continuous banging on the door. Swearing under her breath, Touka turned her head away from the foggy bathroom mirror to give her attention toward the intruder on the other side of the door. "_Son of a_\- Ayato, wait your damn turn! Don't you know that it's rude to interrupt a lady while she's in the bathroom…?!" Touka shouted back at the young ghoul behind the wooden door, before taking a deep breath to compose herself. Not even ten seconds later, the constant banging returned to plague her morning once more, with what sounded like Ayato whining as well. Slamming her hairbrush and hair dryer down onto the surface of the bathroom counter, Touka felt her teeth grit against each other as she turned her attention to the wooden door yet again. "Ayato, wait your turn!"

"Touka, you've been in there for like, thirty minutes! I have to take a shit…!" Ayato yelled out in a rather tired voice; giving Touka the impression that her fourteen year-old brother had just barely gotten out of bed. As much as she disliked the fact that Ayato was obnoxious when it came to him always interrupting her morning routine, Touka supposed that his intrusiveness was ingrained into her mornings by now.

'_Still, it wouldn't be so bad if he weren't so damn annoying…!_' Touka thought to herself, as she slammed her fist back against the wooden door. "I'm almost done, you moron; stop being so annoying!"

Not being one to take his older sister's yelling lightly, Ayato sneered from behind the wooden door before raising his right hand up to flip his sister off without her having any possible way of knowing; that way, he wouldn't have to risk getting beaten up just like the last time he did that infront of her. "If you don't take your fat ass out of the bathroom, I'm gonna tell dad that you were being an asshole to me!"

"_Fuck you, Ayato; you better keep your mouth shut!_" Touka screamed back, as she slammed her fist against the door to let out her frustration. "Seriously… You know dad's busy as hell at night; don't wake him up for this shit…!" Touka said in a much more quieter and less angry tone of voice, as she rested her hand on against the wooden door. Taking in a silent breath before grabbing the hairbrush, she opened the wooden door before stepping outside beside her little brother. Standing outside with an upset look on his face with his lower lip quivering, Ayato glared at his older sister before looking up to see her small smile. "... It's all yours." Touka said reassuringly with a comforting look on her face, that seemed to actually soothe her younger brother. Patting him on the shoulder, Touka walked passed him to head down the hallway, and back toward her bedroom; leaving in her wake a young ghoul who's eyes followed her until she was out of sight.

Pouting, Ayato mumbled to himself about how much of a jerk his sister was to him and about how one day, he was going to be the stronger sibling. Opening the door, the first thing that Ayato noticed was that not only did Touka not pick up her dirty clothes from the ground, but that she had left a mess on the bathroom sink. "Man, this is some bullshit…!" Ayato muttered bitterly to himself, as he did his best to step over his sister's used bra while avoiding having to look at it for too long. Just as he finally sat down on the toilet to proceed with his own morning routine, his blue eyes shot open as he felt his socks become instantly soaked with the feeling of water the moment he rested his feet down over where his sister had gotten out of the shower from. "... You're a bitch, Touka…"

* * *

After purposely leaving the bathroom a mess for her little brother, who she knew was secretly a germaphobe, Touka finished brushing her hair with before putting the hairbrush away into her desk that housed her laptop and homework that she had finished in advanced. With her indigo bangs swept over her right eye, Touka left her bedroom and did her best to tiptoe past her parent's bedroom, which currently was occupied by her exhausted father who had just gotten off from a fourteen hour shift at the kagune-material production plant that he worked at. After finally traversing across the hallway, Touka made her way past her family's simple living room that she considered to be too plain before turning the corner to see her mother at the door, who looked extremely exhausted as she sat her belongings down onto to their kitchen counter, which included two styrofoam containers containing what smelled like artificially-made breakfast. "M-Morning sweetheart…" Hikari slurred out with a yawn, before stretching her arms out above her shoulders. "How'd you sleep, dear?" The motherly ghoul asked, as she took off her white lab coat to hang onto one of the several clothing hooks that were mounted near the apartment's entrance.

Although it wasn't abnormal to see her mother tired after her usual twelve hour shifts at the hospital, it was extremely rare for Touka to see her stumbling around and slurring over her words, as though she were intoxicated. "I slept fine, mom… What happened last night; did you get overtime...?" Touka asked with a concerned look in her blue eyes, as she made her way over to her mother to wrap her arms around her.

Letting out a tired chuckle, Hikari smirked slightly at her daughter's question before shaking her head. "Not exactly, but… Yes, I was extremely busy last night." Hikari replied back, as she returned her daughter's hug before leaning down to kiss Touka on her forehead. "Speaking of last night… There's something that I want to discuss with you and Ayato before you two head downstairs for breakfast." Hikari said, as she spoke with a serious tone that gave Touka a bit of anxiety to hear. "... However, seeing how my son is probably going to take just as long as you usually do in the bathroom, I think I'll just tell you for now; that way, you can tell him downstairs." Hikari muttered with a slightly annoyed look in her eyes, as all she could think about was how expensive the water bill was going to be for the Yoshimura family, who were in charge of paying the bills. "Come, sit down so I don't accidentally eat shit and fall over…!" Hikari chuckled, as she began to clumbily make her way toward the living room.

Feeling slightly better that her mother was still able to joke around and speak sarcastically, the corners of Touka's mouth curled up into a smile as she followed her mother. Sitting down on the small leather couch that sat parallel from the wall that their television was mounted on, Touka watched as her mother nearly went limp the moment she sat down on her recliner. "So uh… What's going on, mom? What did you need to t-talk about…?" Touka asked with a slightly shaky voice, silently worrying over the possibility of their financial situation being endangered. Growing up even poorer than what they were now, Touka remembered the various Christmas mornings where there stood a barren plastic Christmas tree in the living room, and how she and her family had to resort to breaking the law, as they ate slightly spoiled human meat that her father had harvested from the dug up caskets that he would get from various gravesites, and the ledges of where car accidents and suicides were most common.

Sensing her daughter's worry, Hikari wished that the news she came baring with was something light and didn't involve her family; unfortunately, what she had to discuss with her daughter wasn't something to brush off. "Touka… Do you remember Ken Kaneki, by chance?"

Not expecting to ever hear that name again, any and all anxiety that embodied itself into Touka's body quickly vanished and became replaced with utter confusion. "Huh? You mean uh… That one guy who used to be Eto's boyfriend or something…?" Touka asked with an unsure look in her eyes, as she tilted her head in confusion toward her mother. In truth, Touka never really talked to him, and on the few accounts that he would come over to Anteiku, it was mostly just to meet up with the grown ups back when she was twelve and Ayato was just eight years old. Touka remembered him being polite and pleasant enough to be around from what she could remember, but other than that she herself didn't have much of a connection with him like how her parents and the Yoshimura family did. In truth, the only memory that really she could recall was remembering just how sad everyone else other than her and Ayato became, after hearing the news of his death after fighting a particularly skilled CCG investigator; and as bad is it sounded, he was just a human to Touka, and thus his death really bother her. So needless to say, after hearing that name coming out of her mother's mouth, the young ghoul was extremely intrigued to know what the news was that weighed heavily on her mother's mind. "Um, soooooo… W-What about him?"

"Well, I know you're not a fan of humans sweetheart, but um… You see…"

* * *

Every morning at Anteiku, the employees and their families who were able to partake in the traditional morning breakfast came together to enjoy a hearty meal together, before it came time to open the cafe for business. The seemingly ritualistic practice of hosting breakfast every morning had first started off as the Yoshimura family's solution to help with the overwhelming cost of genetically-modified food that was made for ghoul consumption, and since eating human or ghoul meat was outlawed by the CCG, many ghouls found themselves having to work whatever jobs they could get just to make end's meet. Those who were desperate or brave enough to venture out for more traditional food were quickly disposed of by the overwhelming presence of patrolmen, or they would eventually be imprisoned or killed by the legion of investigators. The need for comfort and support from one another was perhaps the biggest upside to having breakfast with one another; the feeling of empathy and being part of a family brought comfort and reassurance to those who lived at Anteiku. The time-honored tradition that had been around since Kuzen first purchased the property was something that Touka looked forward to every morning; the sweet smell of coffee and the sizzling smell of artificial eggs that were fried and set down onto a bed of what was made to look like steamed rice always made her mouth water. Sitting next to Ayato and Yomo, Touka gazed down at the plate of warm food that had usually made her stomach rumble in excitement with an extremely upset look on her face, as her blue eyes peered past the other ghouls toward the end of the table to gaze up at the new and unfamiliar face of Kaneki, who stared back at her with a visibly confused look in his grey eyes. Sitting at the head of the table in the seat where Kuzen usually sat at to say grace, there sat Kaneki Ken; the young human who Touka's mother had told her about prior to her leaving the apartment. '_What the hell is he doing here…? And why the hell is the manager and his daughter so buddy-buddy with him?!_' Touka thought to herself bitterly, after taking a quick glance at the bright and overly-joyed expressions on both Eto and Kuzen's faces, as they sat on both of Kaneki's left and right sides. Involuntarily grinding her teeth against each other in frustration, Touka's hands tighten up into fists that she hid underneath the white table cloth of the long dining table; the inner fire and rage growing hotter and hotter with each passing second that she kept glaring intently at the young man who she considered to be an intruder and a burden to her family. "What the fuck are you looking at, _**human**_…?" Touka muttered under her breath quietly, as she began to fidget frustratingly in her seat.

Although his attention had been more focused on the tantalizing plate of food in front of him, it wasn't until he heard his older sister swearing under her breath did Ayato finally notice what was going on with her. "Pst, Touka…! Chill out; you're making him uncomfortable…!" Ayato whispered in a hushed voice that was far louder than he had been anticipating for. Luckily for the young fourteen year-old ghoul, the only person who had been able to notice what he was saying was his uncle, who sat on Touka's left side.

Sighing, Yomo glanced over toward where Kaneki was sitting to see Kuzen happily pouring coffee into his mug, while Eto had a slight blush on her cheeks as she served the young man a hefty serving of human food that Eto had bought for herself as an effort to help reduce the cost of eating. "Look, Touka, I don't like nor trust the guy either… In fact, if it were up to me, I would have sent his ass right out of the door the moment he woke up…" Yomo whispered quietly in a voice that was far less obnoxiously loud than his nephew's. "Regardless of how you and I might feel about him, the fact that he reminds the manager and Eto of the _real_ Ken Kaneki means that him being here is making those two happy… And if anyone deserves to be happy, it's those two…" Yomo whispered solemnly with a conflicted look in his cold eyes, as he lowered his gaze toward the food on his white ceramic plate.

Even though she completely agreed with her uncle about how the owners of the cafe, who have been prime examples of selfless and strong leadership figures amongst all of them, deserve to be happy, what she couldn't agree with was with the kind of happiness that those two were receiving from basking in the presence of what she would easily considered to be an imposter. "Yomo, that's bullshit…! You know what I see…?" Touka asked with a bitter glare in her eyes, as she turned her attention away from Kaneki to look over at her unamused uncle.

"What Touka, what do you see…?" Yomo asked in a quiet voice; all the while resisting the temptation to roll his eyes.

"I see another worthless, over-privileged, free-loading human who's taking advantage of some good people...! Not only is he a God damn liar, he's a liar who's getting a free meal from a bunch of hard-working ghouls, who bust their asses off every damn day just to barely scrape by…!" Finishing her short-lived rant by slamming her balled fist against the table top, her burning raged quickly vanished, and by the time Touka looked up to see the various confused and concerned looks being given to her by the other ghouls of Anteiku, all she could feel was embarrassment. "S-Sorry, I… I had an itch." The young ghoul lied, as she looked down in an attempt to hide her blushing cheeks; all the while Ayato was snickering at her.

* * *

Having grown used to eating whatever gas station food he and Hide had grown to live off while living on the road, the breakfast that Kaneki had been given was an extremely welcomed change of pace for him. However, despite the overwhelming amount of hospitality that was being showered on him by both Eto and Kuzen, Kaneki couldn't overlook how mistrusted and even disliked he felt during the entire meal. The ghouls who had known Ken Kaneki on a personal level gave him dirty looks and stared at him as if he was there to infiltrate and sabotage the life they've made for themselves; especially from Enji Koma and Kaya Irimi, who were the most senior waiters of Anteiku. However, despite how calsued and uncaring he tried to pretend to be, what bothered Kaneki the most was how one particular ghoul was giving him hateful glances and speaking venomous words at him, and that was something that Eto was able to pick up on, as she sat down at her book signing booth next to him. "You know, as hard as it may be, I wouldn't try to take it personally if I were you, Kaneki; Touka has a bit of a temper on her, and has a bit of prejudice against humanity." Eto mused with a caring tone in her voice, as she tapped her pen against the linen-covered table top of her foldable table that housed several copies of her various books that she had on display. "I'm not excusing her rude behavior, and don't you worry, I'll be having a talk with her about how she acted during breakfast."

Feeling as though he was being prompted to reply back to what she had said, Kaneki turned his attention towards Eto while picking up the white ceramic cup of coffee that she had set out for him. "I do not have any hard feelings for her bias against me, Ms. Yoshimura, I… I understand the hardships that your kind faces. If I were in her shoes, I would not care for the company of an outsider either." Kaneki said in a respectable and understanding voice, while turning his head towards the half-ghoul to look her in the eyes. "Ms. Yoshimura, I understand that I remind you of 'him'... We share the same name, with the only exception being that apparently I have been saying his name wrong this entire time…!" Kaneki chuckled to himself for the first time that morning; after finally admitting out loud that not only himself but the woman who had been the closest the man who he had tried inheriting the name from. '_Technically the name wasn't his either to begin with, but… Oh no.'_ Before he could go too much into his own inner thoughts about the young man before him, the realization that what he had thought to be funny apparently wasn't settling too well for Eto, who's smile immediately melted down into a painful frown that she tried to hide by taking a sip from her coffee.

"It would seem so, wouldn't it…?" Eto replied back quietly with a longful look in her green eyes, as she carefully placed the ceramic cup back onto the small white plate that laid on the foldable tabletop counter. Although she was usually an advocate for manners and proper social etiquette, much like how her father had taught her in the first place, the half-ghoul couldn't bring herself to look into those grey eyes that reminded her so much of lost lover. "Kaneki… Forgive me if I'm being presumptuous in any sort of way, but… You knew who he was, didn't you?" Even though Kaneki was already prepared to answer the question that he knew he would have had to answer sooner or later, that didn't mean that the usually antisocial young man still wasn't dreading it; and if he was going to keep his relationship with the only few people in Tokyo who would be understanding of his situation, Kaneki knew that lying wasn't going to do him any good. "You look nervous… You're hiding something, or… Are you afraid to tell me?" Eto asked in a rather quiet and polite voice, that was serving to be far more intimidating to Kaneki than that of any previous torture sessions or interogations that he had grown accusmed to enduring; who remained silent for quite some time.

"Ken Kaneki… That is not his real name; it was an alias." Kaneki finally answered back, after mustering up the courage from the bottom of his heart to finally answer back, after what seemed like a lifetime of silence. As he had expected, the information he had shared with Eto apparently was news to her, and her reaction accurately reflected the pain that she felt in heart. Swallowing the lump in his throat while hiding his clenched fist underneath the white tabletop linen, Kaneki pressed on. "Kishou… His name is, er… His name _was,_ Kishou Arima; he was fifteen years old when he was sent back to Tokyo to do what I have been sent to do now…"

"So... You're just here to pick up where he left off then... Is that it...?" Eto asked quietly, with an upset look on her face that was displaying only a small percentage of the pain and anger that was boiling up inside her, as she glared intently into her mocha reflection that was inside her cup of coffee. "Your organization, he… He called them 'Conquerors': an underground cult or something that's been around for quite some time... He… he told me a little bit about the _horrible_ things that they've done to him, in order to make him able to do the things he was capable of doing..." Baring her teeth at her cup, the moment her eyes registered how visibly angry her reflection had become, Eto closed her eyes shut before trying to softly inhale and exhale to calm herself down before continuing to speak. "... Was that what your nightmare was about; the one from this morning?"

Although it had been only two years since Kaneki had left Italy, the worst part of his preparation and training had long since passed, and was now just a distant memory; however, they were still memories that still sometimes made his skin crawl. The surgeons that had replaced his human bones and organs with enhanced-transplanted artificially constructed implants used to haunt his nightmares, especially since they had refused to give him medication to numb his pain; now however, Kaneki found himself missing those nightmares, and found them to be a dream compared to the recurring memory he had to endure every night. "It is… It is something like that..." Kaneki explained vaguely with a shrug of his shoulders, as it soon became apparent to Eto that he wasn't interested in spilling out his life story to her just yet. Not wanting the awkward silence between them to last longer than it already had, Kaneki raised a closed fist up to his lips before forcing out a cough. "... This cafe, it is ran by ghouls, correct? And serves to be a safe haven for those in need, right?"

Although it was common knowledge that Anteiku was ran by ghouls, Eto was slightly caught off guard to say the least the moment she heard Kaneki bring up one of the closest guarded secrets of her cafe that she and her father protected with their lives. "I uh… I guess I shouldn't be surprised to me that you figured that out; if you're anything like how Ken-… If you're anything like how _Kishou Arima_ used to be when he was going by the name of 'Ken Kaneki', then I guess it was only a matter of time before you figured that out…" Eto mused quietly underneath her breath, before looking over at Kaneki with a set of curious green eyes. "If you don't mind me asking… Hinami and Ryouko, they said they walked over here from a car crash after almost being kidnapped by those 'Sons of Tokyo' bastards… Were you involved in that, by chance? Were you the one who rescued them?" Eto questioned, as she watched Kaneki flinch sightly at the mere mention of them. Smirking, Eto didn't need to hear a verbal answer from the young man to know that he was involved in their rescue. "Figures… You probably threatened them to keep quiet about you, huh? That's what Ke- Kishou would have done..."

"What I said to them was... Not something that I was proud to say." Kaneki said with a sturdy look in his eyes, despite the fact that Eto was easily able to see through the young man's cold facade, and was able to recognize the look of regret and shame in his grey eyes; the same look that Arima had given her countless times back when things were more simple. "I fully understand how awful that must make me look, and I fully accept any-" Before Kaneki could finish his sentence about accepting any sort of punishment that the half-ghoul had to dish out to him, Eto's slender index finger shushed him the moment she pressed it against his soft lips.

Staring back at him with her own unreadable expression on her face, Eto remained silent for a few moments before doing something that Kaneki wasn't accustomed to receiving. Wrapping her arms around his small and muscular frame, Eto felt Kaneki flinch the moment she pulled him into an embracing hug. "Thank you… Thank you so much for saving those two..." Eto whispered into his ear with a sense of gratitude that seemed foreign to the young man, who was more used to being vilified by factions and people rather than being thanked. Closing her eyes, she nuzzled her face into his shoulder before sighing, as she reached up with her right arm to gently run her fingers through the back of his black hair.

Sitting there within her warm embrace, what should have made him feel comforted and appreciated by the beautiful half-ghoul made Kaneki feel uncertain of what to do next. '_Do… Do I hug back? Or do I just… Wait, until the moment has passed?_' He thought to himself, as Eto continued to nuzzle her face into him. Although social interactions weren't his strong suit at all, the young man was beginning to consider returning the gesture until his grey calculating eyes looked up to see two young woman approaching them from the other side of the booth. '_Oh, thank God..._' Kaneki thought to himself, as he saw what appeared to be fans of Eto. "Ms. Yoshimura, you have company…" Kaneki whispered quietly into the half-ghoul's ear, before patting her on the shoulder to get her attention.

Silently cursing herself for forgetting to tell the young man about her pen name, 'Sen Takatsuki', Eto put a smile on her face as she pulled away from Kaneki to gaze up at the excited look from the taller of the two young women, who had approached her first before her friend had a chance to. "Apologies about that! My uh, friend here is just here to keep me company; not meant to be a distraction for me…!" Eto chuckled uneasily, as she grabbed hold the first book that was handed to her by the purple haired ghoul standing before her, who adjusted her red-framed glasses as she watched the author pick up her pen. "Thanks for coming to my book signing! And who do I have the pleasure of signing this baby out to?~" Eto asked playfully, as she clicked down on top of her ink pen to prepare the tool for usage.

"Rize Kamishiro, Ma'am!" The young ghoul said in her perky voice, as she stared down with her purple eyes with a wide smile across her soft lips; ecstatic to see her favorite author in person. "Ms. Takatsuki, I'm your biggest fan; y-you don't know how much an honor it is to finally meet you in person!" Rize said out loud in a fan girl voice, while nearly jumping up and down in an effort to contain her overflowing excitement.

From the corner of her eye, Eto couldn't help but share the young woman's infectious joy as she carefully used her best penmanship skills to write a personal message to her supposedly 'biggest fan'. "Nonsense, the honor's all mine; I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for my wonderful readers, after all…!" Eto said honestly, despite knowing how cheesy and generic her words sounded aloud. "Seriously, you guys are the reason why I can even support my family… So thank you, from the bottom of my heart." The young half-ghoul thanked, as she handed Rize back her newly signed copy of 'The Black Goat's Egg.'

"Oh my God, I think I'm gonna cry…!" Rize sniffled, as she wrapped her arms around the novel, as if though she had just been handed her newborn child. "Ms. Takatsuki, I… I hope I'm not being too bold when I ask this, but… Your friend and you… Are you two dating?" Although the question hadn't fazed Kaneki at all, Rize's inquiry had sent Eto's cheeks ablazed. Quickly realizing that her question had made her idol author flustered, Rize felt a surging sting of regret erupt inside her chest. "I-I shouldn't have asked that…! I'm so sorry, Ms. Takatsuki, I-I run a fan club and I-I just, y-ya know, w-wanted to make sure my bio for you is accura- _**I-I'm just going to stop talking now**_." Rize quickly said with her own cheeks burning red, as she raised the novel up to her face to hide the abundance of embarrassment that she felt standing across from the author who she just admitted to being a little too obsessed with.

Trying to find her own voice through to muster the words to speak, Eto tapped her pen nervously against the tabletop before letting out a sigh. '_We used to, kind of…?_' Is what she wanted to say, but not having the confidence to say that put along side the fact that she didn't want to scare Kaneki, Eto decided it was best to brush it off as casually as she could. "Nah, w-we're just friends, is all…" Saying that made her flinch slightly, and Eto felt her lip involuntarily quiver slightly before glancing away from Rize's wide eyes. "Uh… F-Fan club, you say? I never knew I was interesting enough to have one, haha…!"

Wanting to move on from the situation entirely as well, Rize lowered her book back down to her chest to show Eto the respect that she figured she deserved to be shown before nodding. "Y-Yes ma'am! It's uh, an online Discord server at the moment, b-but since we're growing in numbers, I was considering finding a place to meet up at and to discuss your books!" Rize said ethusasically; making it very clear for the emotionally-touched writer that she was extremely proud of being the leader of the 'Sen Takatsuki Fan Club'.

"Well, if you're open to it, you and I can have a one-on-one talk after I sign your friend's novel~." Eto said with a friendly wink, as she watched with a smile on her face as Rize's face became lit up with joy from having just been offered the chance to speak to her favorite author personally. "I can perhaps talk to the owner of this cafe about dedicating an area for you and your club to use during the weekend!~" Eto said with a promising look in her eye, that nearly made the astonished fangirl nearly faint after hearing such an offer.

"I-I…!" Unable to finish her sentence, Rize stood there with her lower lip quivering, as Eto and Kaneki both watched. Finally tearing up, Rize kept one hand tightly gripping her signed novel before using her free hand to fan her face to prevent the tears from streaking down her cheeks and ruining her eyeliner. Giving one shaky nod to her idol, Rize instantly turned around to face the nervous and shocked expression on her friend's face. "_Mutsuki, hurry up and get your book signed so I can talk business with Ms. Takatsuki…!" _Rize said in a hushed and authoritative voice, before quickly stepping around the confused young woman to shove her closer to Eto's table. "_Hurry your shit up…!_" Rize whispered into the quinx's ear with an overly-impatient tone behind her voice, before quickly looking over the young woman's shoulder to flash a reassuring and innocent smile to the bewildered author. "I-I'll go ahead and get us some coffee to share, Ms. Takatsuki; take all the time you need!~" The young ghoul said cutely, before walking over to Touka, to ask where she could be seated.

Although Rize was technically at a lower social class than her, due to her still being considered somewhat human compared to being seen as a ghoul, Mutsuki's lack of confidence and self-esteem was what made her one of the few people that Rize could boss around and get away with. So after having to be put into an awkward position, all the tanned-skin young woman could do was just stand there with buckling knees and her book held tightly to her chest, as she looked over at the reassuring smile on Eto's face. "H-Hello, Ms. Takatsuki… M-May you please, um… S-Sign my book…?" Mutsuki asked with a nervous look on her face, as she hesitantly extended her hard-cover book over to the Eto to have it signed; all the while turning her head towards Kaneki's direction.

Carefully slipping off the plastic cover from the young woman's book, Eto placed the novel down flat on the table before pressing the tip of her ink pen down against the lower right hand corner of the book's cover art. "Alrighty, and who am I making this bad boy out to?~" The author asked in an upbeat and bubbly voice, as she stared down intently with her green eyes open and her ears patiently waiting to hear the name that Mutsuki wanted her to jot down.

"Mutsuki… Mutsuki Tooru, and um… May I have your name, sir?" Mutsuki asked in a slightly higher pitch of voice and with a nervous tone behind her words that caught Eto off guard after hearing the last part.

"Eh, 'Sir…?'" Blinking twice repeatedly to herself as she frowned a bit, Eto shook her head in confusion before looking up at Mutsuki. "Uh… Y-You just called me 'Ms. Takatsuki; did you suddenly forget my name AND gender, or- Oh…?!" Before she could fully finish her playful jab at the quinx, Eto felt her eyes widen and her pen dropping out of her hand the moment she gazed up to see Mutsuki focusing her attention on the young man beside her, rather than herself. "I uh…" Eto muttered out with a twitching right eye, as she watched the scene beginning to unfold before her.

Looking up with an unsure look on his face, Kaneki sat across from Mutsuki, wondering to himself the reason why this young woman was wanting to speak to him, when she should have been giving her attention to the author she had come to see. However, also not wanting to be rude for Eto's sake, if not his own, Kaneki closed his eyes for a moment to mentally prepare himself to make conversation with the blushing tan woman before letting out a quiet sigh. "My name is Kaneki Ken; the pleasure is all mine, Ms. Tooru." The young man greeted back, as the ends of his soft lips curled into a small and confident smirk.

"K-Kaneki Ken, huh…? What a wonderful name you have, um… I-If you don't mind me saying that, of course…!" Mutsuki stuttered with a wide toothy smile, as she raised her hands over her face in an attempt to hide her blushing cheeks from Kaneki, who in turn couldn't help but let out a small and genuine chuckle of his own; one that secretly rubbed Eto the wrong way as she felt her fingers tightening into fists underneath the table cloth. "I-I must look stupid right now, don't I…?!"

"No, you are quite fine! I find your shyness and bashful nature quite charming actually; it is refreshing for me to have such an interaction, to say the least!" Kaneki chuckled out with a now extremely wide and toothy smile of his own, as he began to relax his shoulders down while beginning to lean into the chair.

"**O-OH!?**" Mutsuki blurted out far louder than she had hoped to, which only made her shrink further into her palms that also made the young man laugh again in amusement. "I-I mean… I-Is that right…?!" The young woman asked in a self-conscious tone, as she involuntarily took a step closer to the young man. Lowering her hands to show her smile, Mutsuki felt a tingling and tickling sensation inside her nostrils, that caused her to squint slightly while opening her mouth to breath; the tell-tale signs that she was about to sneeze. Quickly burying her face into her white jacket's sleeve, Mutsuki covered her mouth and nose before sneezing.

Without thinking too much of it, Kaneki continued to smile at the quinx before reaching over toward the pitcher in the middle of the table to grab hold of a maroon handkerchief for her to use. "_Felicita._" Kaneki said politely, as he reached over to hand the Mutsuki the handkerchief to wipe her nose with. Unlike Japanese culture, where there really wasn't an equivalent to 'bless you' or any other saying after someone sneezed, Mutsuki's eyes widened in surprise after hearing what the Kaneki had just said.

"D-Did you just say uh… 'Happiness', in Italian...?" Mutsuki asked with a perplexed look on her face, as her expression changed from that of embarrassment into that of excitement and intriguement. "That's something Italians say after someone sneezes, right? D-Do you speak Italian...?"

Believing himself to have finally met someone who wasn't trying to kill that also happened to speak his preferred language, Kaneki's eyes lit up with joy. "_Sì, bella ragazza, parlo italiano. Perché parli anche italiano?~_" The young man asked with a slightly flirtatious undertone in his voice, as he patiently awaited for the response to his question of whether or not the quinx spoke it as well.

Although she knew only a little bit of a Italian, Mutsuki understood enough of the language to pick up on the compliment of being called 'beautiful' from what she could manage to translate from Kaneki's question. "I-I only speak enough I-Italian to kinda get by…!~ B-But, I'm still learning bits and pieces from my squad leader; he's Japanese like you, but speaks Italian and Japanese fluently… You two would probably get along, actually…!" Mutsuki said with a pleased look on her face, as she got close enough to Eto's foldable table to actually be able to place her hands flat down on the tabletop, so that way she could lean in closer toward Kaneki.

Although he wouldn't show it, Kaneki felt an anxious feeling beginning to crawl up his spine as he swallowed the small lump that was starting to build up in his throat. "Squad leader who speaks Italian, you say? Interesting… W-What is their name, if you do not mind me asking? I might know them…"

Although she knew the importance of protecting the identity of her fellow investigators, especially from those she didn't know well; at that very moment, Mutsuki couldn't help herself but to feel completely trusting of the young man who had easily caught her eye the moment she approached the table. "It's a he actually, and his name is Koutarou Amon!"

* * *

_**So Ichika will be a big influence and driving force for Kaneki/Haise in the story, and more will be revealed about Kaneki and Amon's past. Here are some recaps, incase something was confusing.**_

_**The Kirishima family are all alive and accounted for, and live in the apartments above the cafe. With that being said, Ayato is a bit less of an asshole in this story, but still is violent; just not as violent as Touka is.**_

_**Ken Kaneki was what Kishou Arima used to go by, and used to look more similar to Yusa than his current look. Arima will be a main character in the upcoming chapters, and will have his blue hair. Haise goes by 'Kaneki Ken' for two reasons: To help differentiate them, and because he got confused if Kaneki was the first name or last name (Much like the fan base, lol).**_

_**In this AU, Ichika Sasaki is Haise Sasaki's younger sister, and was a one-eyed ghoul who will later come into play when Kaneki becomes a half-ghoul later on.**_

_**Eto Yoshimura is a writer and co-owner of Anteiku; she isn't violent or mentally-unstable like her canon self, and is often level headed and silly about things. She is still just as powerful as the manga's counterpart though.**_

_**The artificial food that exists at the end of Tokyo Ghoul re: is available to ghouls everywhere, but is extremely expensive and is used to keep most ghouls in poverty and at humanity's mercy. **_


End file.
